Development, manufacturing, and validation of a dielectric elastomer membrane actuator–driven contactor

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 636-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Linnebach ◽  
Filomena Simone ◽  
Gianluca Rizzello ◽  
Stefan Seelecke
Keyword(s):  
New Technology ◽  
Dynamic Performance ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer ◽  
Dielectric Elastomers ◽  
Mechatronic Systems ◽  
Additional Advantage ◽  
Out Of Plane ◽  
Actuator System ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer Membrane

Dielectric elastomers represent a relatively new technology with high potentials for actuators’ applications. Thanks to their lightweight, fast operations, energy efficiency, low power consumption, large deformations, and high scalability, dielectric elastomers permit to develop novel mechatronic systems capable of overperforming standard actuation technologies, such as solenoid valves, in several applications. This article presents a novel design for a dielectric elastomer–driven actuator system which enables closing and opening of a contactor. The design is based on a combination between circular out-of-plane dielectric elastomer membranes and a bi-stable biasing system which allows to increase the out-of-plane stroke. Characterization of the contactor is initially performed in order to establish the actuator requirements in terms of force and stroke. Then, systematic design and manufacturing are carried out for both dielectric elastomer membranes and biasing mechanism. Finally, the effectiveness of the actuator in closing and opening the contactor is validated experimentally. The results show comparable dynamic performance to a conventional electromagnetic drive, with the additional advantage of a significantly lower energy consumption.

Characterization of the Electromechanical Response of a Dielectric Elastomer Membrane

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose E. Rubio ◽  
Pratik Sarker ◽  
Uttam K. Chakravarty
Keyword(s):  
Applied Voltage ◽  
Plane Deformation ◽  
Fluid Structure Interaction ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer ◽  
Dielectric Elastomers ◽  
Fluid Structure ◽  
Structure Interaction ◽  
Out Of Plane ◽  
Interaction Simulation ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer Membrane

Dielectric elastomers hold much promise as smart materials that could rapidly adapt to changes in environmental conditions due to their mechanical response to an electrical input. They belong to the group of electroactive polymers which have unique mechanical properties such as flexibility, light-weight, and electrical field-induced deformation. These characteristics make dielectric elastomers suitable candidates as actuators, sensors, or energy converter media. The objective of this study is to characterize the structural dynamic response of a dielectric elastomer membrane exposed to stagnant air environment and steady airflow at different angles of attack. A simulation of the fluid-structure interaction of the membrane is performed by coupling an electromechanical finite element model of the membrane with a computational fluid dynamics model representing the external flow. From the fluid-structure interaction simulation, the vibration frequencies and mode shapes, the time-varying out-of-plane deformation, and the coefficients of lift and drag are determined. Furthermore, a convergence study and mesh refinement are performed to guarantee mesh independence of the calculations from the fluid-structure interaction simulation. Results indicate that the stiffness of the electroactive membrane decreases nonlinearly with an increase of the applied voltage. The electrostatic force from the applied voltage adds compressive stress to the membrane, effectively softening the membrane, increasing the out-of-plane deformation, and reducing the resonance frequency.

Identification and characterization of the out-of-plane resonance in a dielectric elastomer to drive an agile robotic cube

2017 ◽  
Vol 122 (16) ◽  
pp. 165104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chao Tang ◽  
Bo Li ◽  
Wenjie Sun ◽  
Zhiqiang Li ◽  
Hualing Chen
Keyword(s):  
Dielectric Elastomer ◽  
Out Of Plane ◽  
Identification And Characterization

OPTIMIZATION DESIGN FOR A DIELECTRIC ELASTOMER MEMBRANE ACTUATOR

2013 ◽  
Vol 02 (01) ◽  
pp. 1350002 ◽  
Author(s):  
TIANHU HE ◽  
YANYAN LI ◽  
HUIMIN LI ◽  
CHENG CHEN
Keyword(s):  
Medical Devices ◽  
Optimization Design ◽  
Shooting Method ◽  
Equations Of State ◽  
Optimization Procedure ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer ◽  
Modes Of Failure ◽  
Out Of Plane ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer Membrane ◽  
Axisymmetric Shape

Due to the large voltage-induced strain along with other unique attributes, dielectric elastromers are being developed as transducers for broad applications in soft robots, adaptive structures, medical devices, energy harvesting and so on. Due to nonlinear large deformation and diverse modes of failure, it has been challenging to model dielectric transducers. This paper focuses on the optimization design of an actuator made of a layer of dielectric elastomer membrane and deformed into an out-of plane axisymmetric shape. The optimization procedure is demonstrated by examining the effect of three designing parameters, originated from the pre-stretch of the membrane, on the performance of the actuator, and by determining the region of allowable states in terms of several typical modes of failure. The equations of state are solved numerically by shooting method and the obtained numerical results indicate that the considered variables are sensitive to the designing parameters and that it is feasible to improve the performance of the actuator by choosing the designing parameters judiciously and averting the modes of failure. The approach presented here provides some guidelines in optimizing such actuators.

Contractile and Buckling Actuators Based on Dielectric Elastomers: Devices and Applications

2008 ◽  
Vol 61 ◽  
pp. 186-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Carpi ◽  
Gabriele Frediani ◽  
Andrea Mannini ◽  
Danilo De Rossi
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Muscle ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer ◽  
Electroactive Polymer ◽  
Dielectric Elastomers ◽  
Interdigitated Electrodes ◽  
Out Of Plane

Dielectric elastomer (DE) actuators are able to typically show significant electromechanical performances, which make this electroactive polymer technology particularly attractive for so-called ‘artificial muscle’ devices. This paper deals with two types of DE actuators recently developed in our lab. The first type is represented by the so-called ‘folded actuators’, based on a simple configuration suitable to easily implement linear contractile devices. The structure consists of a monolithic electroded sheet of elastomer, which is folded up and compacted; the resulting contractile actuator is functionally equivalent to a multilayer stack with interdigitated electrodes, but can be manufactured more easily. The second type of devices is represented by the so-called ‘buckling actuators’. They operate with out-of-plane unidirectional displacements of an elastomer membrane. This paper describes the structure and the properties of both these actuators, along with different examples of applications currently being developed in our lab for the biomedical, the robotic and the space fields.

Investigation on the dynamic performance of viscoelastic dielectric elastomer oscillators considering nonlinear material viscosity

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (20) ◽  
pp. 3190-3199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanping Li ◽  
Jianyou Zhou ◽  
Liying Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Electromechanical Coupling ◽  
Frequency Tuning ◽  
Dynamic Performance ◽  
Transient State ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer ◽  
Nonlinear Material ◽  
Dielectric Elastomers ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
External Stimuli

As a typical kind of soft electroactive materials, dielectric elastomers are capable of producing large deformation under external stimuli, which makes them desirable materials for many practical applications in transduction technology, including tunable oscillators and resonators. The dynamic performance of such dielectric elastomer–based vibrational devices is strongly affected by material viscosity as well as electromechanical coupling. Moreover, as suggested by experiments and theoretical studies, dielectric elastomers exhibit deformation-dependent relaxation process, which makes the modeling of the dynamic performance of dielectric elastomer–based devices more challenging. In this work, by adopting the state-of-art modeling framework of finite-deformation viscoelasticity, the effect of the nonlinear material viscosity on the in-plane oscillation and the frequency tuning of dielectric elastomer membrane oscillators is investigated. From the simulation results, it is found that the nonlinear viscosity only affects the transient state of the frequency tuning process. The modeling framework developed in this work is expected to provide useful guidelines for predicting the dynamic performance of dielectric elastomer–based vibrational devices as well as their optimal design.

Large Deformation Analysis of a Dielectric Elastomer Membrane

2014 ◽  
Vol 912-914 ◽  
pp. 981-988
Author(s):  
Lei Lei Cui ◽  
Li Li
Keyword(s):  
Large Deformation ◽  
Shooting Method ◽  
Plane Deformation ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer ◽  
Deformation Analysis ◽  
Large Deformation Analysis ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Out Of Plane ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer Membrane ◽  
Axisymmetric Shape

Due to the capability of high strain, dielectric elastomers are promising for applications as transducers in cameras, robots, valves, pumps, energy harvesters and so on. This paper focuses on the large deformation analysis of a dielectric elastomer membrane.The membrane is initially flat and attached to a disk in the inner circle and to a rigid ring in the outer circle, then a weight is applied to the disk and the membrane deforms into an axisymmetric shape, undergoing large out-of-plane deformation. The membrane is assumed to behave elastically in accordance with the ogden law. The governing equations are derived by combining kinematics and thermodynamics and a set of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are obtained finally. The ODEs are solved by using shooting method. The obtained results show that the deformation field in the membrane is very inhomogeneous.

Systematic experimental characterization of dielectric elastomer membranes using a custom-built tensile test rig

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (15) ◽  
pp. 2117-2128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Micah Hodgins ◽  
Alex York ◽  
Stefan Seelecke
Keyword(s):  
Human Error ◽  
Pure Shear ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer ◽  
Specimen Preparation ◽  
Membrane Thickness ◽  
Test Rig ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Force Displacement ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer Membrane

This work presents the conceptualization, fabrication, and performance of a dielectric elastomer membrane testing rig. The custom-built rig is designed to electromechanically characterize dielectric elastomer membranes by measuring physical quantities such as force, displacement, film thickness, voltage/current, capacitance, and resistance simultaneously. Due to the thin and very compliant nature of dielectric elastomer membranes, this new design seeks to minimize setup imperfections and human error by considering the specimen preparation and placement from the start. The test rig includes optical thickness sensors which provide the first known dielectric elastomer membrane thickness profile measurements of stretched and/or activated membranes. The operation of the test rig is demonstrated by testing pure shear silicone membrane specimens. Finally, this versatile programmable test rig results in a highly useful tool for further repeatable electromechanical characterization studies of dielectric elastomer membranes.

scholarly journals Mechanical behavior of a circular dielectric elastomer membrane under out-of-plane deformation

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 184-191
Author(s):  
J W Zhang ◽  
J W Chen ◽  
Z Q Ren
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Behavior ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
Plane Deformation ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer ◽  
Electrical Parameters ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer Actuators ◽  
Out Of Plane ◽  
Gent Model ◽  
Dielectric Elastomer Membrane ◽  
Theoretical Results

Abstract The mechanical behavior of a circular dielectric elastomer membrane (DEM) under the contact of a rigid ball is studied in this paper. The out-of-plane deformation of the DEM is unfolded to an equivalent in-plane deformation, and the mechanical behavior is further studied through the Helmholtz free energy theory and the Gent model. The theoretical results obtained from the proposed analysis approach are validated through the out-of-plane deformation experiments, and the influence of the DEM's thickness on the mechanical behavior is revealed and explained. Furthermore, the influences of some key dimensional, dynamical and electrical parameters on the DEM's mechanical behavior are investigated and discussed. The research results are helpful for the system analysis of dielectric elastomer actuators and dielectric elastomer generators with out-of-plane deformations.

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