TY - GEN
T1 - Fluid flow in the vicinity of a vibrating ionic polymer metal composite - Part 1
T2 - 2009 ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Conference, DSCC2009
AU - Peterson, Sean D.
AU - Porfiri, Maurizio
AU - Rovardi, Alessandro
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - Low power consumption and activation voltage combined with high flexibility and minimal weight make Ionic Polymer Metal Composites (IPMCs) well-suited for miniaturized underwater propulsion systems. In this series of papers, we comprehensively discuss the flow field induced by an IPMC strip vibrating in a quiescent aqueous environment by performing complementary physical experiments and numerical simulations. The experimental results are presented in this paper. Planar particle image velocimetry is used to measure the time-averaged flow field of a vibrating IPMC. The momentum transferred to the fluid is computed to estimate the mean thrust generated by the vibrating actuator. We find that the mean thrust increases with the Reynolds number, defined by the maximum tip speed and IPMC length, and is only marginally affected by the relative vibration amplitude. Detailed understanding of the flow environment induced by a vibrating IPMC can guide the optimization of IPMC-based propulsion systems for bio-mimetic robotic swimmers.
AB - Low power consumption and activation voltage combined with high flexibility and minimal weight make Ionic Polymer Metal Composites (IPMCs) well-suited for miniaturized underwater propulsion systems. In this series of papers, we comprehensively discuss the flow field induced by an IPMC strip vibrating in a quiescent aqueous environment by performing complementary physical experiments and numerical simulations. The experimental results are presented in this paper. Planar particle image velocimetry is used to measure the time-averaged flow field of a vibrating IPMC. The momentum transferred to the fluid is computed to estimate the mean thrust generated by the vibrating actuator. We find that the mean thrust increases with the Reynolds number, defined by the maximum tip speed and IPMC length, and is only marginally affected by the relative vibration amplitude. Detailed understanding of the flow environment induced by a vibrating IPMC can guide the optimization of IPMC-based propulsion systems for bio-mimetic robotic swimmers.
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U2 - 10.1115/DSCC2009-2587
DO - 10.1115/DSCC2009-2587
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:77953756777
SN - 9780791848920
T3 - Proceedings of the ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Conference 2009, DSCC2009
SP - 445
EP - 452
BT - Proceedings of the ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Conference 2009, DSCC2009
PB - American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
Y2 - 12 October 2009 through 14 October 2009
ER -