multiphysics modeling

Ionic Polymer Metal Composites (IPMC) are smart materials that consist of two parts, metal, and elastomer. Functionally, IPMCs are a group of electroactive polymers that, due to their special structure, are a suitable option for use as sensors and soft actuators with low excitation voltage. When used as an actuator, in addition to the excitation voltage, IPMC bending is affected by intrinsic and environmental factors. One of the serious challenges in the practical application of IPMC is the prediction of the "Back-Relaxation effect". The term back-relaxation effect is a term used for the gradual reduction of IPMC bending and return to the cathode side under constant voltage excitation. In this research, the effect of back-relaxation on the bending behavior of IPMC has been modeled in three dimensions with Comsol software, for the first time. The comparison of the results with the practical test data indicates high accuracy of 93% of the modeling in predicting displacement, which also confirms other important performance information such as concentration changes and stress distribution in the material. Using this model to predict IPMC behavior will be very cost-effective in terms of time and cost compared to practical tests.