In production processes, many adjustment tasks have to be carried out manually. In order\nto automate these activities, there is a need for cost and space efficient actuators that can provide\ncomparatively high forces. This paper presents a novel actuator concept based on the phase\nchange material paraffin wax. Furthermore, a numerical modelling strategy is introduced enabling\nthe prediction of actuator properties. The model considers paraffin wax as a deformable body.\nThe temperature-dependent volume expansion data of the paraffin wax is obtained experimentally to\nallow for a realistic description of the thermal-mechanical properties. The simulation is verified, using\nexperimental data from actuators with varying paraffin wax volumes. With a maximum deviation of\n6%, the simulations show a good agreement with the experiments.
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