Modeling of an ionic polymer-metal composite ring

This paper presents an analytical model of an ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) circular ring filled with an elastic medium which represents human tissues or organs. A closed-form solution is obtained to depict the vibration response of the IPMC ring. The pressure generated by the IPMC ring on the elastic medium is calculated. Based on this solution, the characteristics of vibration are discussed. To increase the flexibility of the IPMC ring, a segmented IPMC ring is also studied. It is found that the largest radial displacement is dependent on the stiffness of the elastic medium. For zero stiffness, for the IPMC ring with a single electrode, the largest displacement occurs when the electrode covers a quarter or three quarters of the ring, while for the stiffness of the elastic medium ranging from 0.3 to 3 kPa, the largest displacement occurs when the electrode covers 0.2-0.4 rad. The peak value of the pressure generated on the elastic medium is found to increase with the stiffness of the elastic medium. Furthermore, an IPMC ring with multiple electrodes is shown to be capable of producing larger deformation and pressure than an IPMC ring with a single electrode.