Scalable low nDOF hp-FEM model of IPMC actuation

David Pugal; A. Aabloo; Kwang Kim

doi:10.1117/12.2014002

9 April 2013 Scalable low nDOF hp-FEM model of IPMC actuation

David Pugal, A. Aabloo, Kwang Kim

Proceedings Volume 8687, Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2013; 86870X (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2014002
Event: SPIE Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, 2013, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

IPMC actuation is described with a system of partial differential equations – the Poisson’s equation, the Nernst- Planck equation, and the Navier’s equations for the displacement field. In such systems, one physical field can be very smooth while others are not. This can possibly result in very large problem size in terms of number of degrees of freedom (nDOF) when implemented with the finite element method (FEM). Furthermore, finding an optimal mesh is challenging due to the fact that the physical fields are time dependent. In order to overcome these deficiencies, hp-FEM was used to solve the system of equations. The hp-FEM is a modern version of the FEM that is capable of exponential convergence (the approximation error drops exponentially as new degrees of freedom are added during adaptivity). It is shown how the multi-meshing allows reducing the problem size in terms of nDOF; also, how the solution domain that describes IPMC can be scaled without a significant increase in the nDOFs and solution time. The model was implemented in Hermes that is a free hp-FEM solver.

Citation Download Citation

David Pugal, A. Aabloo, and Kwang Kim "Scalable low nDOF hp-FEM model of IPMC actuation", Proc. SPIE 8687, Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2013, 86870X (9 April 2013); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2014002

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