Nonlinear Phenomena in Complex Systems, 2005, Vol.8, No.2, pp.206-209

NONLINEAR PHENOMENA IN COMPLEX SYSTEMS
An Interdisciplinary Journal

2005, Vol.8, No.2, pp.206-209

Investigation on Non Linear Phenomena in IPMC Materials.
C.Bonomo, L.Fortuna, P.Giannone, S.Graziani, A.Rizzo

IPMCs or Ionic Polymer Metal Composites are new materials made of a polymeric membrane with metal deposed on both sides. Strips of IPMCs can bend under the effect of an electric field and vice versa they generate a voltage if mechanically deformed. For these reasons they are appealing to realize moving actuators and sensors in several field of research such as robotics, biomedicine, measurement. In this work an experimental setup, including a software made to measure, built to investigate the presence of non linear phenomena in the IPMC deformation is described. The preliminary results of the experiments performed on a IPMC strip, used as actuator, confirm that non-linear phenomena occur in its deformation.
Key words: IPMC actuator, non linear deformation, characterization

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