Numerical Simulation of Mechanical Sensors Using Conducting Polymers

Abstract

The present study newly attempts the numerical simulation of the mechanical sensors using conducting polymers which generate electricity in the transient response to mechanical stimulation. The generated electric potential in the mechanical sensors is very much smaller than the supplied electric potential of the actuators with respect to the same deformation and structure. The present simulation procedure modifies and integrates the existing theories, and then the features of the transient behaviors, e.g. the non-invertible relation between electrical potential and deformation, relaxation and hysteresis, are numerically simulated. The governing equations of the physical phenomena in the sensation are coupled by embedding driving forces with physical parameters such as solid stress, fluid pressure, ion concentration and electric potential. The governing equations and fields of the physical parameters are spatially simplified as one-dimensional in the thickness direction of the sensors, because their variations over thickness dominantly determine the behavior of the sensor. In addition, the numerical procedure is efficiently simplified as possible as the transient behaviors are expressed. Next, the undrained Poisson's ratio is modified with a correction factor, and its significant effect on the transient behavior is investigated. Lastly, the procedure of the computational system for the sensors is introduced and fully coupled simulation is conducted. As a result, the present study reports the simulation results of the important physical quantities over the microscale thickness.