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dc.contributor.advisorIan W. Hunter.en_US
dc.contributor.authorChen, Angela Y. (Angela Ying-Ju), 1982-en_US
dc.contributor.otherMassachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2007-01-10T16:57:51Z
dc.date.available2007-01-10T16:57:51Z
dc.date.copyright2006en_US
dc.date.issued2006en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/35659
dc.descriptionThesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2006.en_US
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 93-96).en_US
dc.description.abstractConducting polymers are a promising class of electroactive materials that undergo volumetric changes under applied potentials, which make them particularly useful for many actuation applications. Polypyrrole , is one of the most common conducting polymers of choice for the development of actuator technologies and has been well characterized in its mechanical, electrical, and electrochemical response. Although capable of producing almost 10 times more active stress for a given cross-sectional area than skeletal muscle, strains are relatively low on the order of 1 to 2 %, as are strain rates, which are on the order of a couple percent per second. Small strains can be amplified to produce large bending displacements by configuring the conducting polymer film in a trilayer configuration with two conducting polymer films sandwiching an electrolyte gel layer. This thesis focuses on the development of conducting polymer bending actuators in air. There is a strong correlation found between applied voltage, temperature, and the speed of actuation. Several experiments were carried out to determine the effect of temperature on the mechanical, electrical, and electrochemical properties of the components of the trilayer.en_US
dc.description.abstract(cont.) This data coupled with thermal profiles of trilayers during actuation, electrochemical profiles, and force generation plots of the trilayers shed light on how these bending actuators can be optimized and integrated into different applications such as propulsion mechanisms for autonomous underwater vehicles.en_US
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityby Angela Ying Ju Chen.en_US
dc.format.extent96 leavesen_US
dc.format.extent4543697 bytes
dc.format.extent4547707 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherMassachusetts Institute of Technologyen_US
dc.rightsM.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.en_US
dc.rights.urihttp://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
dc.subjectMechanical Engineering.en_US
dc.titleLarge displacement fast conducting polymer actuatorsen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.description.degreeS.M.en_US
dc.contributor.departmentMassachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
dc.identifier.oclc76765856en_US


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