Capability of pipe inside an actuator to move in various fluid and oil surfaces

This paper proposes a novel pipe inside a magnetic actuator that operates on the elastic energy of a vibration component excited by electromagnetic force. Flexible material such as rubber was used to support the actuator in the pipe and was used as a means of transferring elastic energy. The actuator is moved by the difference between forward and backward forces of support point of actuator. In the experiment, the actuator that was shielded by a thin acrylic hollow cylinder for movement inside a pipe with an inner diameter of 11 mm was prototyped. Characteristics of movement for the actuator were measured in air and water. The actuator could climb at 14.1 mm/s when pulling a load mass of 30 g. In the water, the speed of the actuator compared to the air was approximately 50 % by viscosity resistance of the water. In addition, a prototype of a new magnetic actuator combined with a memory alloy (SMA) wire and an electromagnetic vibration component was proposed and fabricated. In the actuator, the supporting force inside the pipe can be varied by the SMA wire. The speed of the actuator was measured in a pipe soiled with oil. In a pipe with a coefficient of friction of 0.28, it can pull vertically at a speed of 2 mm/s while generating a traction force of 0.088 N. Experimental results demonstrated that this actuator can be used in various environments such as atmospheric air, underwater, and piping with corroded parts. In the future, it is possible to observe the damaged condition inside the piping by mounting a micro CCD-camera on the actuator.