DP-RE type Micromotors using Electro-conjugate Fluid

This paper presents a new type of micromotor using electro-conjugate fluid (ECF). An electro-conjugate fluid is a kind of dielectric fluid, which works as a smart fluid. The fluid generates a powerful jet flow, which we call an ECF jet, when subjected to high DC voltage with highly non-uniform electric field, which means, it works as a fluid power source for mechanical components without bulky pumps. We introduce this attractive smart fluid to micromotors in this paper. Inside the motor is filled with the electro-conjugate fluid and a rotor has electrode pairs on the surface. By applying high DC voltage to the electrode pairs, the rotor rotates due to the ECF jet. In this paper, we design several types of electrode pairs and examine each influence on motor performances.