Modelling Coupled Electric Field and Motion of Beam of Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite

In this paper, a mathematical model of electromechanical transduction of Ionic Polymer-Metal Composites is presented. The aim of the research was to create a physics-based, geometrically scalable model to use in control systems. The relation between actuating voltage and the tip displacement was described with a transfer function. The model is derived from the basic physical properties of researched materials. To calculate the final transfer function, two impedance models are considered - with and without neglecting the resistance of the metal electrodes. In this paper, the model with non-zero electrode resistance is calculated. Later, the model is simplified (taking the physical properties into account) and the numerical values based on the parameters of the samples are calculated. The simplifications allow the model to predict the response to low-frequency sine wave actuation. The frequency-domain characteristics of the samples were created experimentally and compared to the model. The results have proven the accuracy of the model.