Proposal of braid-shape polymer microactuator

Abstract

This paper proposes a new kind of polymer actuator, braid-shape polymer microactuator, BSPM. The BSPM is braided by narrow PVDF tapes. This paper aims at analyzing the effects of the braiding method and solving the methodology of braiding. It is difficult to realize the prototype and confirm its properties by experiment. Therefore, this paper introduces ways of construction of the braided polymer films. The physical model of deformation of BSPM is described and the deformation of the BSPM is analyzed. Some prototypes of BSPM, and some basic experimental results, are presented.