Mechanical interpretation of back-relaxation of ionic electroactive polymer actuators

The mechanical model obtained by a non-traditional approach to the basic components of the traditional viscoelastic models-spring and damper-elucidates the back-relaxation of ionic electroactive polymer actuators. The corresponding PDE characterizes the curvature or bending moment of the actuators throughout stimulated bending forward followed by relaxation back towards the initial shape. Combining series of short entities containing the lumped electrical circuit, and the transient bending moment generated according to the PDE, results in a new model of the ionic electroactive polymer actuators. This model takes into account the back-relaxation of the actuators as well as the superposition principle. The experiments carried out with three actuators of different ionic electroactive polymer materials show excellent accordance with the model.