A Tube-type ECF Microactuator Using Pressure due to ECF-jet

Electro-Conjugate Fluid (ECF) is a kind of dielectric and functional fluid, which produces jet-flow (ECF-jet) by applying high voltage between electrodes. The purpose of this study is the realization of a novel microactuator using an ECF-jet. It is ascertained that a strong ECF-jet is generated under a non-uniform electric field. Therefore, in this paper, a pair of needle-type and ring-type electrodes (a needle-ring electrode pair) are used to obtain a stronger ECF-jet. First, influences of parameters of the needle-ring electrode pair on the pressure due to an ECF-jet are experimentally investigated. Second, a novel microactuator using an ECF-jet with the needle-ring electrode pair is proposed and fabricated, which is driven based on the principle of Bourdon tubes. Finally, the characteristics of the fabricated tube-type ECF microactuator are experimentally investigated.