Abstract
Up to date, Dielectric Elastomer Actuators (DEA) have been mostly based on either silicone or acrylic elastomers, whereas the potential of DEAs based on inexpensive, wide-spread natural and synthetic rubbers has been scarcely investigated. In this paper, a DEA based on a styrene-based rubber is demonstrated for the first time. Using a Lozenge-Shaped DEA (LS-DEA) layout and following a design procedure previously proposed by the authors, we develop prototypes featuring nearly-zero mechanical stiffness, in spite of the large elastic modulus of styrenic rubber. Stiffness compensation is achieved by simply taking advantage of a biaxial pre-stretching of the rubber DE membrane, with no need for additional stiffness cancellation mechanical elements. In the paper, we present a characterization of the styrene rubber-based LS-DEA in different loading conditions (namely, isopotential, isometric, and isotonic), and we prove that actuation strokes of at least 18% the actuator side length can be achieved, thanks to the proposed stiffness-compensated design.
Highlights
Dielectric Elastomers (DEs) are a particular class of smart materials that can provide bi-directional conversion between mechanical energy and direct electricity, enabling the production of intrinsically compliant and integrated actuators, sensors, or generators
This paper presented for the first time the design and proof-of-concept of a Dielectric Elastomer
A design solution was proposed that relies on the so-called Lozenge-Shaped Dielectric Elastomer Actuators (DEA) (LS-DEA)
Summary
Dielectric Elastomers (DEs) are a particular class of smart materials that can provide bi-directional conversion between mechanical energy and direct electricity, enabling the production of intrinsically compliant and integrated actuators, sensors, or generators. Silicones and other types of rubber seem a more promising option for efficient and durable real-world devices due to their reduced electromechanical losses and to their better reliability and lifetime They generally present a significantly larger shear modulus (μ ≈ 300 kPa) that makes the implementation of actuators more complex. The possibility of achieving low stiffness without external compensation elements makes the LS-DEA an interesting topology to be used in combination with tougher, but rather stiff DEs (rubber or silicone) In this regard, the present work provides experimental evidence that LS-DEAs with nearly-zero mechanical stiffness can be implemented leveraging the electromechanical properties of styrenic rubber.
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