Operation of Ionic Polymer-Metal Composites in Water

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

5-23-2005

Publication Title

Smart Structures and Materials 2005 - Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD)

Publisher

SPIE

Volume

5759

First page number:

22

Last page number:

23

Abstract

The Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite (IPMC) for flexible hydrodynamic propulsor blades can provide many new opportunities in the naval platforms, especially in developing robotic unmanned vehicles for both surveillance and combat. IPMC materials are quietly operational since they have no vibration causing components, i.e. gears, motors, shafts, and etc. For small Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV), these features are truly attractive due to limited space. Also, IPMCs are friendly to solid-state electronics with digital programming capabilities. Active control is thus possible. Another advantage of these materials should be recognized from the fact that they can be operational in a self-oscillatory manner. There are several issues that still need to be addressed such as propulsor design, testing, robotic control as well as theoretical modeling of the appropriate design. In this effort, IPMC is investigated for propulsor blades applications in NaCl solution and a propulsor model with a robust control scheme is explored. An analytical model of a segmented IPMC propulsor was formulated to be used as a building block for furthering the model to adequately accommodate the relaxation behavior of IPMCs and for describing the dynamics of the flexible IPMC bending actuator.

Keywords

Actuators; Blades; Composites; Hydrodynamics; Metal-filled plastics; Metals; Modeling; Polymers; Remote submersibles; Solid state electronics; Surveillance; Underwater propulsion; Unmanned vehicles; Warfare; Water

Disciplines

Materials Science and Engineering | Mechanical Engineering | Metallurgy | Ocean Engineering | Polymer and Organic Materials

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.

UNLV article access

Search your library

Share

COinS