Abstract—In this paper, an flexible thin actuator driven by low boiling point liquid that can generate large force in expansion was proposed and tested. The tested actuator is an envelope-type actuator that is made of laminating plastic sheets, low boiling point liquid and a flexible heater. The flexible heater is made of functional liquid using carbon nanotubes. In a preliminary experiment, by folding serial envelope-type actuators alternately, the actuator can generate the larger displacement towards a specific direction by using air pressure of about 100 kPa. The actuator was also able to drive the load of 490 N. In addition, the performance of the flexible thin actuator driven by the low boiling point liquid and the flexible heater was also investigated. As a result, it was confirmed that the tested actuator could be driven silently by using the fluidic power generated by the electric power.   

Index Terms—flexible thin actuator, low boiling point liquid, flexible heater, mobile rehabilitation device, silent movement

Cite: Tetsuya Akagi, Shujiro Dohta, Shinsaku Fujimoto, Yasuyuki Tsuji, and Yuto Fujiwara, "Development of Flexible Thin Actuator Driven by Low Boiling Point Liquid," International Journal of Materials Science and Engineering, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 55-59, March 2015. doi: 10.12720/ijmse.3.1.55-59