High-output bending motion of a soft inflatable microactuator with an actuation conversion mechanism

The improvement of soft inflatable microactuators using an actuation conversion mechanism is presented in terms of high-output generation; a bending inflatable microactuator with the conversion mechanism is designed to generate high-output bending motion. The designed microactuator consists of a pneumatic balloon on a base film and a conversion film over the balloon and ribs on the backside of the base film. A conversion film converts the inflating motion of a pneumatic balloon into a bending motion. The fabricated microactuator with a pneumatic balloon of 13 mm in diameter is 16 mm × 40 mm × 850 μm. A 25 μm thick polyimide film is used as a conversion film over the pneumatic balloon because polyimide film is both non-stretchable and flexible. An array of Si ribs (15 mm × 40 mm × 400 μm) is integrated on the backside of the base film. Analysis of the microactuators with and without the conversion mechanism indicates that the output performance is improved with the addition of the conversion mechanism, as designed. As a result, the microactuator with the conversion film generates a maximum force of 1.72 N at 80 kPa, whereas the microactuator without the conversion film generates a maximum force of 0.15 N at 40 kPa. The improved microactuator can provide 4.2 mN/mm³ as the force density. In addition to fundamental characterization, the performance characteristics of the actuators are examined by combining the fundamental results.