Calculations of actuator promising designs

Bimetallic actuators are widely used in electro-technical, adjusting, safety and other systems. Actuator calculation is a problem of current interest. It is required to develop new actuator designs with better performance. Finite element method was used for complex shape bimetallic actuator calculation. The algorithm is implemented in Abaqus finite element software. Actuator elastic characteristic and deformed shape are the results of the calculation. Calculation results for different actuators were compared. New design of thermo-bimetallic actuator consisting of a shallow dome and an U-shaped tongue with was described. It deforms with a “snap-through” when the heat is applied. The layers of shallow dome and tongue are placed on opposite sides, making possible the maximization of actuator characteristic points displacement. The proposed actuator design and the developed calculation methodology can be recommended to the implementation to the calculation practice and actuator element base development