ORIGINAL ARTICLE R. Trujillo Æ J. Mou Æ P. E. Phelan Æ D. S. Chau Investigation of electrostrictive polymers as actuators for mesoscale devices Received: 24 September 2002 / Accepted: 3 November 2002 / Published online: 18 December 2003 Ó Springer-Verlag London Limited 2003 Abstract This paper presents an investigation of the use of electrostrictive silicone polymers as actuators for mesoscale devices. The generated strains of both flat and rolled actuators, based on Dow Corning Sylgard 182 and 184, with sputtered gold electrodes, are presented as functions of the applied electric field. Variables exam- ined in this study include silicone film thickness, gold electrode thickness, cycling of the applied electric field, and actuator configuration (flat or rolled). In general, thinner silicone films and gold electrodes yielded greater strains, at a constant applied field. The actuator per- formance tended to deteriorate with repeated applica- tion of the electric field, and the gold electrodes cracked after being subjected to a large percentage strain. Keywords Electrostrictive polymer Æ Mesoscale device Æ Actuator Nomenclature A Cross sectional area, mm 2 a 1 ,a 2 electrostrictive constants, m 2 /V 2 D diameter, mm E electric field, V/m  o permittivity of free space, F/m  dielectric constant for silicones, F/m F force, N J work, J l length, lm S ij strain tensor, dimensionless S ijkl tensor of elastic compliance coefficients, lm t thickness, lm T kl stress tensor, Pa u i displacement vector, mm V volume, mm 3 m Poisson ratio, dimensionless w width, lm Y Young’s modulus, Pa 1 Introduction In development of a mesoscale compressor, the choice of actuator technology is arguably the most important consideration. The key issue in the design of this mesoscale device is to make a functional actuator capable of sufficient force and movement to produce a compressor having a useful pressure ratio and flow rate. A wide variety of actuation mechanisms exist at the mesoscale level, including electrostatic, piezoelectric, thermomechanical, etc. [1], but none of these traditional approaches appear to offer the combination of force and movement that is necessary for a mesoscale compressor. One possible alternative is to utilise the electrostrictive properties of polymers [2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. For some applica- tions, the electrostrictive approach offers several advantages over existing actuator technologies, includ- ing high strains, good actuation pressures, and high specific energy densities. To date, relatively little consideration has been given to the fabrication of an actuator using electrostriction, compared to, say, one based on the piezoelectric effect. The purpose of this research is to develop a prototype mesoscale compressor using the electrostriction of sili- cones as the means of actuation. The electrostrictive response of a particular type of polymer, silicone Syl- gard 182 and 184, is examined here for both flat and rolled configurations. This study is in addition to our previous work which focused on flat configurations [7]. Experiments are conducted to test electrode materials such as sputtered gold films, silver pastes, and conduc- tive rubbers with the purpose of finding the best Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2004) 23: 176–182 DOI 10.1007/s00170-003-1580-7 R. Trujillo Æ J. Mou (&) Department of Industrial Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA E-mail: mou@asu.edu P. E. Phelan Æ D. S. Chau Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA