Paraffin microactuator

A paraffin microactuator is a type of thermal microactuator. It uses the volume expansion associated with the solid-to-liquid phase change of paraffin wax to deliver the actuator stroke. Owing to the rather large volume expansion (typically 10-15 %) and low compressibility of paraffin, paraffin microactuators can deliver both large strokes and high actuation forces. The fabrication is often done by Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology or sometimes precision mechanics.