Electroactive polymers for flow control

The design of EAP actuators, in the form of active dimples for flow control, is described. Manufacturing techniques have been adopted from MEMS processing. The final design comprises 10 mm dimples manufactured on 100 mm silicon wafers; the electrodes consist of graphite powder. Initial electromechanical tests have been carried out and experimental data correlate well with theory. The results show how the response is sensitive to the input signal of the driving voltage and material properties such as the Shore A number.