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Electroactive polymers have shown promising applications as transducers that can mimic biological muscle. The modulus or the compliance of many of these devices can change significantly as they are actuated making these materials attractive for applications that require tunable stiffness. We have developed a dynamic mechanical analyzer that is capable of making in situ measurements of the dynamic compliance transfer function of conducting polymers as a function of an electrochemical stimulus. We do this by simultaneously applying a stochastic stress waveform over a potential waveform and calculating the compliance as it changes over the course of electrochemical excitation. Using these signals we can calculate the compliance transfer function between 0.1 and 100 Hz and the impulse response function with up to 3% variation in its parameters. These functions are then computed as charge is injected into the polymer and it is shown that the low frequency gain of the transfer function can change by 30%-40% in the electrochemical system tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A decade of research into electroactive polymer actuators is leading to the exploration of applications. These technologies are not ready to compete with the internal combustion engine and electric motors in high power propulsion systems but are suitable for intermittent or aperiodic applications with moderate cycle life requirements, providing an alternative to solenoids and direct drive electric motors. Polypyrrole, an emerging actuator material, is applied to drive hydrodynamic control surfaces and in particular to change the camber of a foil. The foil is intended for use in the propeller blade of an autonomous underwater vehicle. A scaled prototype is constructed which employs polypyrrole actuators imbedded within the blade itself to vary camber. The kinematics required to generate camber change are demonstrated, with >30° deflections of the trailing edge being observed from both bending bilayer and linear actuator designs. Forces developed in still conditions are five times lower than the 3.5 N estimated to be required to implement variable camber. The observed 70 kJ/m³ polypyrrole work density however is more than sufficient to produce the desired actuation from within the limited blade volume, enabling an application that is not feasible using direct drive electric motors. A key challenge with the polypyrrole actuators is to increase force without sacrificing speed of actuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing understanding of the advantages offered by fish and insect-like locomotion is creating a demand for muscle-like materials capable of mimicking nature's mechanisms. Actuator materials that employ voltage, field, light, or temperature driven dimensional changes to produce forces and displacements are suggesting new approaches to propulsion and maneuverability. Fundamental properties of these new materials are presented, and examples of potential undersea applications are examined in order to assist those involved in device design and in actuator research to evaluate the current status and the developing potential of these artificial muscle technologies. Technologies described are based on newly explored materials developed over the past decade, and also on older materials whose properties are not widely known. The materials are dielectric elastomers, ferroelectric polymers, liquid crystal elastomers, thermal and ferroelectric shape memory alloys, ionic polymer/metal composites, conducting polymers, and carbon nanotubes. Relative merits and challenges associated with the artificial muscle technologies are elucidated in two case studies. A summary table provides a quick guide to all technologies that are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Materials used in many branches of engineering are of low molecular weight and not flexible. As we develop more sophisticated engineering devices one can look to nature for inspiration and advocate the use of high molecular weight flexible materials. Conducting polymer actuators will soon be used in applications where traditional low molecular weight actuator systems are incapable of mimicking the functionality provided by nature's muscle. To incorporate conducting polymer actuators into engineering systems it is of high importance to not only model and predict the behavior of these actuators but also understand the connection of material properties to performance. In this paper, the importance of fundamental actuation mechanisms and the fundamental material properties of conducting polymer muscles such as ionic diffusion rate, electrochemical operating window, strain to charge ratio, ratio of charge carried by positive versus negative ions, and salt draining are discussed and their effect on performance is demonstrated. The relevance of engineered geometry to the performance of conducting polymer muscles is also shown. Our understanding of what limits the performance of existing conducting polymers actuators provides directions for the improvement of the next generation of conducting polymer actuators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]