Recovery torque modeling of carbon fiber reinforced shape memory polymer nanocomposites

Carbon fiber and carbon nanofiber paper (CF&CNFP) can be incorporated into shape memory polymers (SMPs) to increase electrical conductivity and allow high speed electrical actuation with a low power. This paper studies the interactions among the recovery torques of CF&CNFP and SMP and the gravity torque during the shape recovery process. The proposed recovery torque model in a SMP CF&CNFP based structure is validated by experimental data obtained using a recently developed low cost, non-contact measurement testbed. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.