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Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Free-form Light Actuators — Fabrication and Control of Actuation in Microscopic Scale
Published on: May 25, 2016
Enhanced Figures of Merit for a High-Performing Actuator in Electrostrictive Materials
Nellie Della Schiava1,2, Kritsadi Thetpraphi3, Minh-Quyen Le4
1Univ Lyon, INSA-Lyon, LGEF, EA682, F-69621 Villeurbanne, France. nellie.dellaschiava@insa-lyon.fr.
Abstract:
The overall performance of an electrostrictive polymer is rated by characteristic numbers, such as its transverse strain, blocking force, and energy density, which are clearly limited by several parameters. Besides the geometrical impact, intrinsic material parameters, such as the permittivity coefficient as well as the Young's modulus and the breakdown electric field, have strong influences on the actuation properties of an electroactive polymer and thus on the device's overall behavior. As a result, an analysis of the figures of merit (FOMs) involving all relevant material parameters for the transverse strain, the blocking force, and the energy density was carried out, making it possible to determine the choice of polymer matrix in order to achieve a high actuator performance. Another purpose of this work was to demonstrate the possibility of accurately measuring the free deflection without the application of an external force and inversely measuring the blocking force under quasi-static displacement. The experimental results show good electrostrictive characteristics of the plasticized terpolymer under relatively low electric fields.
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