Design of bending multi-layer electroactive polymer actuators

The effects of layer thickness and stiffness on multilayer bending actuator performance were investigated with an analytical mechanical model. Performance was evaluated in terms of curvature, blocked force, and work. Multilayer device designs corresponding to dielectric elastomer actuator, ionic polymer metal composite, and conjugated polymer structures were examined. Normalized plots of the performance metrics as functions of relative layer thickness and stiffness are presented that should allow initial, starting-point estimates for designs for particular applications. The results show that to achieve high curvature, layer thickness and stiffness may need to be set above or below particular bounds, or varied together, depending on the device configuration; often there is a broad plateau of combinations that work equally well. There is a conflict between achieving high bending and high force: the former requires the device to behave as much as possible like a simple bilayer with optimal ratios of thickness and modulus, while the latter requires thicker layers and shows little dependence on their moduli. Finally, to maximize work there are areas in the thickness-modulus plane that should be avoided, these areas varying with the configuration in sometimes surprising ways.