Abstract
The present study newly attempts the numerical simulation of mechanical sensors using IPMCs (ionic polymer-metal composites). The generated electric potential of mechanical sensing mode is very much smaller than the supplied electric potential of actuating mode with respect to the same displacement and structure. Furthermore, the mechanical sensors show the relaxation and time lag of reaction force and electric potential, The non-invertible and time-dependent behaviors of the mechanical sensors are numerically modeled with a set of basic equations with multi-fields such as solid stress, fluid pressure, ion concentration and electric potential. The basic equations consist of Biot poroelastic model, layered Timoshenko beam model and Poisson-Nernst-Plank model. Instantaneous pore pressure is estimated on undrained condition, Poisson effect of pore pressure on uniaxial condition is added, and the significant changes of volume and mechanical stiffness due to hydration are considered with water uptake. The related models are integrated and simplified into numerical simulation, and the numerical results are compared with experimental results.
