Active vibration control using DEAP actuators

Abstract

Dielectric electro-active polymer (DEAP) is a new type of smart material, which has the potential to be used to provide effective actuation for a wide range of applications. The properties of DEAP material place it somewhere between those of piezoceramics and shape memory alloys. Of the range of DEAP-based actuators that have been developed those having a cylindrical configuration are among the most promising. This contribution introduces the use of a tubular type DEAP actuator for active vibration control purposes. Initially the DEAP-based tubular actuator to be used in this study, produced by Danfoss PolyPower A/S, is introduced along with the static and dynamic characteristics. Secondly an electromechanical model of the tubular actuator is briefly reviewed and its ability to model the actuator's hysteresis characteristics for a range of periodic input signals at different frequencies demonstrated. The model will be used to provide hysteresis compensation in future vibration isolation studies. Experimental active vibration control using the actuator is then examined, specifically active vibration isolation of a 250 g mass subject to shaker generated 'ground vibration'. An adaptive feedforward control strategy is used to achieve this. The ability of the tubular actuator to reject both tonal and broadband random vibratory disturbances is then demonstrated.