A micromotor using electro-conjugate fluid - Improvement of motor performance by using saw-toothed electrode series

An electro-conjugate fluid (ECF) 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 a highly non-uniform electric field. This means the ECF works as a fluid power source for mechanical components without any bulky pumps. This paper develops a high-performance ECF micromotor having novel saw-toothed electrode series. The motor has four disk plates with the electrode series as a rotor. The inner diameter and length of the motor are 9 and 10.6 mm, respectively. Experimental results confirm that the output power and torque of the motor are 21 times and 7.5 times larger than those of a previous ECF micromotor having bar-shaped electrode pairs. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.