Analysis of Displacements of a Polymeric Microgripper

A polymeric, electro-thermally actuated microgripper has been designed. Preliminary experimental tests were carried out. Analyses of different displacements of the microgripper were performed. We present a study of different geometries of the metallic layers of the microgripper structure in order to optimise the model structure, by reducing the displacements (vertical and horizontal) which can make the structure instable or difficult to operate. The analyses of the displacements were studied using finite-element modelling and performing electro-thermo-mechanical simulations.