Performance Investigation of Cone Dielectric Elastomer Actuator Using Taguchi Method

Dielectric elastomer actuator （DEA） show promise for mechatronic applications due to the advantages of dielectric elastomer, such as lightweight, flexible, low cost, high strain, etc, and many configurations of DEAs have been demonstrated. As a kind of linear actuator, cone DEAs are studied in some laboratory prototypes due to easy manufacturing, however, their performance have not been exploited fully. Based on the working principle of DEA, a four-bar linkage mechanism is designed to provide negative stiffness preload, which can increase displacement output of actuator （outer diameter 100 mm） to 17 mm. Three cone actuating units are assembled in parallel to enhance the maximum force output to 5.07 N. Loading experiments of actuator in forward and backward strokes are performed, the experimental results show that backward stroke has stronger actuating capability than forward stroke, accordingly application of actuator is recommended. Four factors rather than applied voltage, i.e., number of actuating units, pre-stretch ratio, inner diameter, and outer diameter, are determined as influencing factors for Taguchi method. Then the performance objectives of actuator, i.e., displacement output, maximum force output, and maximum work in backward stroke, are investigated based on L9（34） Taguchi orthogonal design. The mean signal-to-noise （S/N） ratio based on the larger-the-better criterion is calculated according to the acquired displacement and force output. Analytical results show that outer diameter has the most significant influence on displacement output, and maximum force out and work output are influenced most by number of actuating units. Inner diameter also has an important effect on the performance objectives of actuator, while pre-stretch ratio has the least influence. The proposed performance investigation is helpful for the design and application of cone actuator in mechatronic system.

Electro-viscoelastic behaviors of circular dielectric elastomer membrane actuator containing concentric rigid inclusion

The time-dependent electro-viscoelastic performance of a circular dielectric elastomer(DE) membrane actuator containing an inclusion is investigated in the context of the nonlinear theory for viscoelastic dielectrics. The membrane, a key part of the actuator, is centrally attached to a rigid inclusion of the radius a, and then connected to a fixed rigid ring of the radius b. When subject to a pressure and a voltage, the membrane inflates into an out-of-plane shape and undergoes an inhomogeneous large deformation. The governing equations for the large deformation are derived by means of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, and viscoelasticity of the membrane is characterized by a rheological spring-dashpot model. In the simulation, effects of the pressure, the voltage, and design parameters on the electromechanical viscoelastic behaviors of the membrane are investigated. Evolutions of the considered variables and profiles of the deformed membrane are obtained numerically and illustrated graphically. The results show that electromechanical loadings and design parameters significantly influence the electro-viscoelastic behaviors of the membrane. The design parameters can be tailored to improve the performance of the membrane. The approach may provide guidelines in designing and optimizing such DE devices.

Cell Nanomechanics Based on Dielectric Elastomer Actuator Device

As a frontier of biology,mechanobiology plays an important role in tissue and biomedical engineering.It is a common sense that mechanical cues under extracellular microenvironment affect a lot in regulating the behaviors of cells such as proliferation and gene expression,etc.In such an interdisciplinary field,engineering methods like the pneumatic and motor-driven devices have been employed for years.Nevertheless,such techniques usually rely on complex structures,which cost much but not so easy to control.Dielectric elastomer actuators(DEAs)are well known as a kind of soft actuation technology,and their research prospect in biomechanical field is gradually concerned due to their properties just like large deformation(>100%)and fast response(<1 ms).In addition,DEAs are usually optically transparent and can be fabricated into small volume,which make them easy to cooperate with regular microscope to realize real-time dynamic imaging of cells.This paper first reviews the basic components,principle,and evaluation of DEAs and then overview some corresponding applications of DEAs for cellular mechanobiology research.We also provide a comparison between DEA-based bioreactors and current custom-built devices and share some opinions about their potential applications in the future according to widely reported results via other methods.

Snap-through path in a bistable dielectric elastomer actuator

The dielectric elastomer(DE)has attracted significant attention due to its desired features,including large deformation,fast response,and high energy density.However,for a DE actuator(DEA)utilizing a snap-through deformation mode,most existing theoretical models fail to predict its deformation path.This paper develops a new finite element method(FEM)based on the three-parameter Gent-Gent model suitable for capturing strain-stiffening behaviors.The simulation results are verified by experiments,indicating that the FEM can accurately characterize the snap-through path of a DE.The method proposed in this paper provides theoretical guidance and inspiration for designing and applying DEs and bistable electroactive actuators.

Recent progress in the development of dielectric elastomer materials and their multilayer actuators

Dielectric elastomers(DEs)have emerged as one of the most promising artificial muscle technologies,due to their exceptional properties such as large actuation strain,fast response,high energy density,and flexible processibility for various configurations.Over the past two decades,researchers have been working on developing DE materials with improved properties and exploring innovative applications of dielectric elastomer actuators(DEAs).This review article focuses on two main topics:recent material innovation of DEs and development of multilayer stacking processes for DEAs,which are important to promoting commercialization of DEs.It begins by explaining the working principle of a DEA.Then,recently developed strategies for preparing new DE materials are introduced,including reducing mechanical stiffness,increasing dielectric permittivity,suppressing viscoelasticity loss,and mitigating electromechanical instability without pre-stretching.In the next section,different multilayer stacking methods for fabricating multilayer DEAs are discussed,including conventional dry stacking,wet stacking,a novel dry stacking method,and micro-fabrication-enabled stacking techniques.This review provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of recent developments in high-performance DE materials and multilayer stacking methods.It highlights the progress made in the field and also discusses potential future directions for further advancements.

PI-funnel and inverse hysteresis compensation cascade control of smart soft dielectric elastomer actuator

Smart soft dielectric elastomer actuators(SSDEAs)possess wide applications in soft robotics due to their properties similar to natural muscles,including large deformation ratio,high energy density,and fast response speed.However,the complicated asymmetric and rate-dependent hysteresis property,creep property and quadratic input property of the SSDEA pose enormous challenges to its dynamic modeling and motion control.In this paper,first,we construct the dynamic model of the SSDEA by connecting a square module,a one-sided Prandtl–Ishlinskii(OSPI)model and a linear system in series to describe the above properties.The key and innovative aspect of the dynamic modeling lies in cascading the square module in series with the OSPI model to construct the asymmetric hysteresis model.Subsequently,a PI-funnel and inverse hysteresis compensation(PIFIHC)cascade control method of the SSDEA is proposed to actualize its tracking control objective.By performing the inversion operation on the asymmetric hysteresis model,the inverse hysteresis compensation controller(IHCC)is designed to compensate the asymmetric hysteresis property and quadratic input property of the SSDEA.In addition,a PI-funnel controller is designed to cascade with the IHCC to construct the PIFIHC cascade controller to obtain a good tracking performance.Then,the stability analysis of the PIFIHC cascade control system of the SSDEA is performed to theoretically prove that the tracking error can be controlled within the performance funnel and the steady-state error converges to zero.Finally,several practical tracking control experiments of the SSDEA are conducted,and RRMSEs are less than 2.30%for all experiments.These experimental results indicate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed PIFIHC cascade control method of the SSDEA.

Computer-controlled ultra high voltage amplifier for dielectric elastomer actuators

Soft robotics is a breakthrough technology to support human-robot interactions.The soft structure of a soft robot can increase safety during human and robot interactions.One of the promising soft actuators for soft robotics is dielectric elastomer actuators(DEAs).DEAs can operate silently and have an excellent energy density.The simple structure of DEAs leads to the easy fabrication of soft actuators.The simplicity combined with silent operation and high energy density make DEAs interesting for soft robotics researchers.DEAs actuation follows the Maxwell-pressure principle.The pressure produced in the DEAs actuation depends much on the voltage applied.Common DEAs requires high voltage to gain an actuation.Since the power consumption of DEAs is in the milli-Watt range,the current needed to operate the DEAs can be neglected.Several commercially available DC-DC converters can convert the volt range to the kV range.In order to get a voltage in the 2-3 kV range,the reliable DC-DC converter can be pricy for each device.This problem hinders the education of soft actuators,especially for a newcomer laboratory that works in soft electric actuators.This paper introduces an entirely do-it-yourself(DIY)Ultrahigh voltage amplifier(UHV-Amp)for education in soft robotics.UHV-Amp can amplify 12 V to at a maximum of 4 kV DC.As a demonstration,we used this UHV-Amp to test a single layer of powdered-based DEAs.The strategy to build this educational type UHV-Amp was utilizing a Cockcroft-Walton circuit structure to amplify the voltage range to the kV range.In its current state,the UHV-Amp has the potential to achieve approximately 4 kV.We created a simple platform to control the UHV-Amp from a personal computer.In near future,we expect this easy control of the UHV-Amp can contribute to the education of soft electric actuators.

Analytical models for circular and spherical dielectric elastomers

In order to imitate skin characteristics, a dielectric elastomer (DE) membrane coated with flexible electrodes is applied with high voltage, which can lead to wrinkles and other phenomena. To develop soft-actuated air vehicles and other equipment, lightweight gas is pumped into a DE spherical shell to generate controllable flight movements. According to experimental phenomena and data, the calculation models of phase transitions on circular DE films are built. Meanwhile, the deformation characteristics of different DE (acrylic polymer and rubber) spherical actuators combined with helium are compared. The peak pressure inside a rubber balloon is greater than that of a VHB (acrylic polymer) balloon shell, but the limit stretch of rubber is much smaller. By taking advantages of this phenomenon, large deformations of a VHB spherical shell can be realized at an actuated state. Moreover, multi-layer spherical DE shells can achieve larger voltage-induced volume change than monolayer ones. The research indicates that pre-stretching is one of the key factors to induce phase transitions between flat, wrinkled and bulging regions on circular DE films, and the internal pressure determines the electromechanical performance of balloon actuators.

Stability analysis of dielectric elastomer film actuator

Dielectric elastomer (DE) is the most promising electroactive polymer material for smart actuators. When a piece of DE film is sandwiched between two compliant electrodes with a high electric field,due to the electrostatic force between the two electrodes,the film expands in-plane and contracts out-of-plane so that its thickness becomes thinner. The thinner thickness results in a higher electric field which inversely squeezes the film again. When the electric field exceeds the critical value,the dielectric field breaks down and the actuator becomes invalid. An elastic strain energy function with two material constants is used to analyze the stability of the dielectric elastomer actuator based on the nonlinear electromechanical field theory. The result shows that the actuator improves its stability as the ratio k of the material constants increases,which can be applied to design of actuators. Finally,this method is extended to study the stability of dielectric elastomers with elastic strain energy functions containing three and more material constants.

Toward broad optimal output bandwidth dielectric elastomer actuators

Dielectric elastomer actuators(DEAs)are one of the most promising soft actuation technologies owing to their relatively high power density and electromechanical efficiency enabled by a resonant actuation technique.However,existing DEA designs suffer from a very narrow optimal output bandwidth close to resonance and poor output control capability due to their fixed geometrical configurations.This condition greatly limits their applications in programmable actuation and broad-bandwidth applications.Accordingly,this work developed a novel resonance tunable DEA(RTDEA)design for broad-optimal-output actuation bandwidths that is enabled by an integration of a stiffness and voltage control strategy.This design features a broad resonant frequency adjustment from 84 to 126 Hz and independent tunings of its resonant amplitude and frequency.Parametric studies were conducted to illustrate the fundamental principles behind the resonance tuning strategy,and optimization was performed to maximize the tuning capability.Here,a resonance tuning control strategy is proposed to achieve accurate adjustments of the RTDEA’s resonance based on the stiffness and voltage control strategy.These resonance tunable soft actuators are envisioned to greatly expand DEAs’applications in,for instance,soft robotic locomotion,human–robot communication,and active vibrational control with demands of broad actuation bandwidths and high output performance.

A Method to Analyze the Voltage-Actuation Response of a Pre-Strained Circular Dielectric Elastomer Actuator Model

Dielectric elastomers(DEs) are the polymers capable of inducing deformation under electrical stimulation. When subject to a voltage across its thickness, the material reduces in thickness and expands in area. This paper presents a new method to analyze deformation and stress distribution response of the dielectric elastomer actuator(DEA) model under different applied voltage. An equal-biaxial pre-strained circular actuator model was built. The Yeoh strain energy potential and the collocation method are used for describing the large strain actuation response and stress distribution. The study in this paper has shown that: the stress and the stretch distributions in the passive region of the DE actuator depend on the radial distance from the center at the calculation point of the passive region and the magnitude of the applied voltage; with the same excitation applied voltage, we can get a larger deformation actuation by choosing an appropriate pre-stretch ratio; the influence of the non-ideal material has seriously affected the actual deformation of the DE actuators. This analytical model has a reference potential for the design optimization of high performance DEA systems and the model-based control of the DEA robot.

Simulation,experimental evaluation and performance improvement of a cone dielectric elastomer actuator

Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are an emerging class of polymer actuation devices and have extensive application prospect in the field of robotics because of their light weight, high efficiency and large deformation. A cone DEA is manufactured and its working principle is analyzed. To obtain the deformation of elastomer and movement of DEA in advance, a finite element method (FEM) simulation is performed first. According to the working principle, two working equilibrium points of DEA, corresponding to the displacements of DEA with voltage off and on, are obtained and validated by experiments, thus work output in a workcycle is computed. Experiments show that the actuator can respond quickly when voltage is applied and can return to its original position rapidly when voltage is released. Simulation results agree well with experimental ones and the feasibility of DEA simulation is proved, and causes for the small difference between them in displacement output are analyzed. The performance of the actuator is improved from the aspects of both displacement and force output. A diamond four-bar linkage mechanism is used as the preload part and a displacement output of 17 mm is obtained. The force output of one actuating unit is about 1.77 N, so three actuating units are assembled in parallel and the force output is heightened to as high as 5.07 N.

Failure modeling of folded dielectric elastomer actuator

When subjected to voltage,the dielectric elastomer membrane reduces its thickness and expands its area under the resulting compressive force.This characteristic enables the dielectric elastomer actuators of different structures to be designed and fabricated.By employing the thermodynamic theory and research method proposed by Suo et al.,an equilibrium equation of folded dielectric elastomer actuator with two generalized coordinates is established.The governing equations of failure models involving electromechanical instability,zero electric field,electrical breakdown,loss of tension,and rupture by stretch are also derived.The allowable areas of folded dielectric elastomer actuators are described.These results could provide a powerful guidance to the design and performance evaluation of the dielectric elastomer actuators.

Homogeneous large deformation analysis of a dielectric elastomer peristaltic actuator

A series of isometric,radially expanding tubular units,made of dielectric elastomer with compliant electrodes,constitute a soft linear peristaltic pump with distributed actuation for transport of incompressible fluids.Based on the Gent strain energy model,this paper theoretically analyzes the homogeneous large deformation of the peristaltic unit.We discuss the effects of axial prestretch on the actuation of the actuator.We then predict the maximum actuation strain of this actuator which is limited by dielectric strength of the polymer.The results presented here extend the previous study based on linear elasticity,and can predict the electromechanical behaviors of the novel actuator at large deformations.

Advances in dielectric elastomer actuation technology

Dielectric elastomer actuators(DEAs) have attracted much interest over the past decades due to the inherent flexibility, large strain, high efficiency, high energy density, and fast response of the material, which are known as one of the most promising candidates for artificial muscle. In this paper, we first introduce the actuation principle and electromechanical modeling approaches of dielectric elastomers(DEs). Then, the performance of different DEs material and existing compliant electrodes that are widely utilized for DEAs are presented. We also highlight the compatibility of DEs, which is suitable for a variety of actuator designs and applications. Lastly, we summarize the challenges and future development in terms of electromechanical modeling, improvement of materials including compliant electrodes and dielectric elastomer, designs and applications of novel dielectric elastomer actuators.

纳米钛酸钡对介电弹性体材料机械性能的影响

介电弹性体致动器(DEAs)由于具有响应快、应变大、功耗低(mW级)和重量轻等优点,使其广泛应用于生物、医疗、探测等领域。本文使用了钛酸钡(BaTiO_(3))这一种高介电常数材料,将其掺入介电弹性体材料聚氨酯丙烯酸酯(CN9021NS)中以提高材料的介电常数,通过拉伸试验研究了不同BaTiO_(3)颗粒浓度对聚氨酯丙烯酸酯机械性能的影响。实验结果发现随着BaTiO_(3)颗粒浓度的增大,材料的杨氏模量也随之呈现出增大的趋势,当BaTiO_(3)颗粒浓度增大到一定范围时,其杨氏模量出现减小的趋势,但仍大于未掺加BaTiO_(3)颗粒的试样。

Electrical breakdown of an acrylic dielectric elastomer: effects of hemispherical probing electrode’s size and force

Dielectric elastomers are widely investigated as soft electromechanically active polymers(EAPs)for actuators,stretch/force sensors,and mechanical energy harvesters to generate electricity.Although the performance of such devices is limited by the dielectric strength of the constitutive material,the electrical breakdown of soft elastomers for electromechanical transduction is still scarcely studied.Here,we describe a custom-made setup to measure electrical breakdown of soft EAPs,and we present data for a widely studied acrylic elastomer(VHB 4905 from 3M).The elastomer was electrically stimulated via a planar and a hemispherical metal electrode.The breakdown was characterized under different conditions to investigate the effects of the radius of curvature and applied force of the hemispherical electrode.With a given radius of curvature,the breakdown field increased by about 50% for a nearly 10-fold increase of the applied mechanical stress,while with a given mechanical stress the breakdown field increased by about 20% for an approximately two fold increase of the radius of curvature.These results indicate that the breakdown field is highly dependent on the boundary conditions,suggesting the need for reporting breakdown data always in close association with the measurement conditions.These findings might help future investigations in elucidating the ultimate breakdown mechanism/s of soft elastomers.

基于介电弹性体的软体机器人设计、建模与运动控制研究综述

软体机器人是一个多学科交叉的新兴领域,旨在基于软质材料开发类似自然生物的多功能系统,赋予机器人强大的环境适应性、优良的运动灵活性以及高效安全的人机交互能力。介电弹性体是一种新型的软质智能材料,具有弹性模量低、变形范围大、能量密度高、响应速度快等优点,适合于制作软体机器人。首先,介绍几类介电弹性体软体机器人。然后,总结介电弹性体驱动器动力学建模与控制的研究进展。最后,分析介电弹性体驱动器研究当前的挑战,并展望进一步研究的机遇。

基于介电弹性体的旋转步进柔性驱动器

为了适应未来小型自动化机器的驱动需求,设计并实现了一种基于单层介电弹性体薄膜的旋转步进柔性驱动器。相对于传统双轴拉伸装置,自制的八爪拉伸装置使介电弹性体薄膜的预拉伸更均匀。测试了不同预拉伸量下介电弹性体驱动器的最大形变量,确定了制作驱动单元所需的介电弹性体薄膜最佳的预拉伸量。最终通过合理的设计将棘轮机构和驱动单元相结合实现了旋转步进柔性驱动。由于介电弹性体驱动器存在迟滞现象,导致驱动器的步进频率会随着负载质量的增大而减小。通过调节驱动信号的频率,可以改变驱动器的负载能力及步进频率。试验结果表明,当驱动电压为4.53 kV,空载时驱动器步进频率最高可达2.3 Hz;负载时,最大负载为263 g,即峰值扭矩为13.15 mN·m,此时步进频率降至0.22 Hz。