High-frequency oscillations of low-voltage dielectric elastomer actuators

To increase safety and reduce the electric circuit cost, Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) must operate below the kV range. The simplest strategy to reduce the voltage operation is to decrease the dielectric elastomer membrane thickness. This research aims to demonstrate DEAs with a nanometric uniform thickness that can operate at a low voltage (below 70 V) and a high frequency. We use the roll-to-roll process to fabricate a 600-nm-thick stretchable PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane) nanosheet and a 200-nm-thick conductive nanosheet. These nanosheet-DEAs are tested in high-frequency operations of DC voltage below 70 V and in a frequency range of 1–30 kHz.

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

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.