Abstract
New microactuators which are used for medical apparatus or inspection microrobots in the human body have been researched. The pneumatic pressure or water pressure have been utilized for microactuators. However, we have noticed a microactuator driven by gas-liquid phase-change phenomenon. When a liquid is vaporized, the volume of the gas produced is more than 100 times that of the liquid. Gas-liquid phase-change microactuators are thermal engines which utilize the large change in volume that occurs during a phase-change. We fabricated small scale artificial rubber muscle driven by gas-liquid phase-change.
