Micro hydraulic power sources having high output power density using electro-conjugate fluid (ECF)

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24246030
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Design engineering/Machine functional elements/Tribology
• Research Institution: Tokyo Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: YOKOTA Shinichi 東京工業大学, 精密工学研究所, 教授 (10092579)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): YOSHIDA Kazuhiro 東京工業大学, 精密工学研究所, 准教授 (00220632) ; KIM Joon-wan 東京工業大学, 精密工学研究所, 准教授 (40401517) ; EOM Sang In 東京工業大学, 精密工学研究所, 助教 (20551576)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: マイクロ液圧源 / 電界共役流体 / MEMS / マイクロポンプ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

An electro-conjugate fluid (ECF) is a kind of functional fluid. A strong and active jet flow of ECF can be generated between electrodes surrounded by ECF, when high DC voltage is applied to the electrodes. In order to realize the micro hydraulic pressure source having the highest output power density in the world, we integrated the ECF jet effect as a driving mechanism and MEMS technology as its fabrication. We investigated the characteristics of the ECF micro hydraulic sources. Based on the characteristic evaluation, we applied our ECF micropumps to the cooling electronic chips and various tiny soft actuators. The study proved that ECF micro hydraulic power sources are very effective.

Free Research Field

工学