Certain ferroelectric materials possess dual electrostrictive and piezoelectric characteristics, depending on their specific Curie temperatures. The nonlinear electro-mechanical effect of electrostrictive materials provides stronger actuation performance as compared with that of piezoelectric materials. Due to the complexity of the generic ferroelectric actuators, micro-electromechanics, struct...

Besides the scale factor that distinguishes the various spices fundamentally biological muscles changes little between species indicating a highly optimized system, Electroactive polymer actuators offer the closest resemblance to biological muscles however beside the large actuation displacement these materials are falling short with regards to the actuation force. As improved materials emergin...

Either electric or magnetic field can be employed for micro actuation. Each type of actuation principle has its own advantages and drawbacks. This paper presents a comparative study of micro actuators driven by electric and magnetic principles. It is shown that the electrostatic and piezoelectric actuators have good scaling effects whereas the electromagnetic actuators have higher power density...

e propose a new hybrid piezoelectric composite comprised of rmchair single-walled carbon nanotubes and piezoelectric fibers s reinforcements embedded in a conventional polymer matrix. ffective piezoelectric and elastic properties of this composite ave been determined by a micromechanical analysis. Values of he effective piezoelectric coefficient e31 of this composite that ccounts for the in-pla...

9 The co-integration of piezoelectric actuation and sensing capabilities on 10 microelectromechanical system-based resonators can be a source of electrical cross-talk that, if not 11 properly taken into account, may dramatically affect the interpretation of the device’s output. In this 12 paper, we identify three parasitic electrical effects pertaining to the most commonly used piezoelectric 13...

Compared with traditional actuation materials, such as piezoelectric, ferroelectric and conducting polymer materials which suffered from low flexibility, high driving voltages and low energy efficiency, graphene exhibits outstanding mechanical, electrical, optical properties and chemical stability, which made it a good candidate for actuation materials. In this review, the recent progress in gr...

This paper presents the design of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compatible pneumatic actuator regulated by piezoelectric valve for image guided robotic intervention. After comparing pneumatic, hydraulic and piezoelectric MRI compatible actuation technologies, we present a piezoelectric valve regulated pneumatic actuation system consisted of PC, custom servo board driver, piezoelectric valv...

Abstract. The paper presents a procedure and the integrated tools for the aeroelastic analysis of an Active Twist helicopter Rotor (ATR). The active twisting of rotor blades is carried out by induced-strain actuators distributed into the structure of the blade. Active bre composites (AFC), made of piezoelectric bres actuated by interdigitated electrodes (IDE), are used to obtain anisotropic ind...

The paper presents a procedure and the integrated tools for the aeroelastic analysis of an Active Twist helicopter Rotor (ATR). The active twisting of rotor blades is carried out by induced-strain actuators distributed into the structure of the blade. Active bre composites (AFC), made of piezoelectric bres actuated by interdigitated electrodes (IDE), are used to obtain anisotropic induced-strai...

The mechanisms for micromechanical actuation that are most practical, and have been the most applied, are electrostatic attraction and piezoelectric effect. Both scale well into mirro-dimensions, are relatively compatible with microfabrication processes, and are also suitable for displacement sensing. Of the two, piezoelectric devices are much better able to provide strong forces, and while ele...