A small scale viscometer based on an IPMC actuator and an IPMC sensor

Author

Brunetto, P. ; Fortuna, L. ; Giannone, P. ; Graziani, S. ; Pagano, F.

Author_Institution

Dipt. di Ing. Elettr. Elettron. e dei Sist., Univ. of Catania, Catania, Italy

fYear

2010

fDate

3-6 May 2010

Firstpage

585

Lastpage

589

Abstract

The vibrational characteristics of a cantilever beam strongly depend on the fluid in which the beam is immersed. In this paper, this property is exploited to show the possibility to realize a small scale viscometer based on Electro-Active Polymers. More specifically, two IPMCs (Ionic Polymer Metal Composites) strips, one as actuator and one as sensor are adopted; the IPMC actuator is used to impose a vibration to the whole system, the IPMC sensor is used to measure the amplitude and the frequency of the deflection. A model of the device is presented along with its experimental validation on sucrose solutions.

Keywords

cantilevers; chemical sensors; composite materials; electric actuators; frequency measurement; polymers; viscometers; viscosity measurement; IPMC actuator; IPMC sensor; amplitude measurement; cantilever beam; electro-active polymers; frequency measurement; ionic polymer metal composites; vibrational characteristics; viscometer; Actuators; Density measurement; Polymers; Rheology; Sensor phenomena and characterization; Sensor systems; Strips; Structural beams; Vibrations; Viscosity; IPMC; actuator; sensor; viscometer;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference (I2MTC), 2010 IEEE

Conference_Location

Austin, TX

ISSN

1091-5281

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-2832-8

Electronic_ISBN

1091-5281

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IMTC.2010.5488156

Filename

5488156