Stimuli responsive hydrogels may be promising materials for shape transforming structures due to their ability to deform significantly in response to an environmental stimulus without the need for external power. It is well-known that by laminating swelling hydrogels and non-swelling flexible materials, such as inert elastomers, bending actuation can be achieved. In this work, we report an impr...

This article presents a comparison of hysteresis courses in the motion two-input actuator (bimorph) and single-input (unimorph). The was based on results laboratory numerical experiments, subject which an built three layers: carrier layer from glass-reinforced epoxy laminate two piezoelectric layers Macro Fiber Composite. were glued together, electrodes Composite connected to system that includ...

This paper studies the vibration energy harvesting characteristics of poled barium titanate (BT) unimorph cantilevers both analytically and experimentally. The unimorph cantilever consists of the BT layer and Cu shim, and the BT layer has sensing, grounding and driving electrodes. The output voltage of the cantilever excited by bending vibration was predicted by three dimensional finite element...

Abstract—This paper has been investigated a technique that predicts the performance of a bar-type unimorph piezoelectric vibration actuator depending on the frequency. This paper has been proposed an equivalent circuit that can be easily analyzed for the bar-type unimorph piezoelectric vibration actuator. In the dynamic analysis, rigidity and resonance frequency, which are important mechanical ...

Research into energy harvesting from ambient vibration sources has attracted great interest over the last few years, largely as a result of advances in the areas of wireless technology and low-power electronics. One of the mechanisms for converting mechanical vibration to electrical energy is the use of piezoelectric materials, typically operating as a cantilever in a bending mode, which genera...

Abstract Mechanical waste energy can be used to generate naturally responsive power. Vibration is a frequent type of mechanical source. This work describes the use unimorph, bimorph, and ceramic disc piezoelectric transducers capture vibrational motion fulfil requirements mobile electronic gadgets. The transducer one most widely utilised mechanisms for vibration collecting due its design versat...

This paper presents the fabrication and the testing of piezoelectric unimorph actuators with embedded piezoelectric sensors which are meant to be used for the actuation of the Micromechanical Flying Insect (MFI). First the fabrication process of a piezoelectric bending actuator comprising a standard unimorph and a rigid extension is described together with the advantages of adding such an exten...

Based on the multi-chamber series structure, a piezoelectric micropump with high output performance is proposed in this paper. The composed of circular unimorph vibrator, cantilever check valve, and pump body. First, working process was analyzed detail. Then, effect key dimension parameters explored. mainly refer to height chamber valve opening (the deformation size valve). Finally, experimenta...

Inchworm based on the voltage actuation of dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are amongst the simplest types of robots. We demonstrate a proof-of-concept inchworm robot that incorporates a few aligned fibers to suppress undesirable actuator bulging and more effectively convert the bending of a dielectric elastomer unimorph to forward motion. Finite element modeling confirms the role of the f...