Abstract
Dielectric elastomers (DEs) are polymer materials consisting of a network of polymer chains connected by covalent cross-links. This type of structural feature allows DEs to generate large displacement outputs owing to the nonlinear electromechanical coupling and time-dependent viscoelastic behavior. The major challenge is to properly actuate the nonlinear soft materials in applications of robotic manipulations. To characterize the complex time-dependent viscoelasticity of the DEs, a nonlinear rheological model is proposed to describe the time-dependent viscoelastic behaviors of DEs by combining the advantages of the Kelvin–Voigt model and the generalized Maxwell model. We adopt a Monte Carlo statistical simulation method as an auxiliary method, to the best knowledge of the author which has never reportedly been used in this field, to improve the quantitative prediction ability of the generalized model. The proposed model can simultaneously describe the DE deformation processes under step voltage and alternating voltage excitation. Comparisons between the numerical simulation results and experimental data demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed generalized rheological model with a maximum prediction error of 3.762% and root-mean-square prediction error of 9.03%. The results presented herein can provide theoretical guidance for the design of viscoelastic DE actuators and serve as a basis for manipulation control to suppress the viscoelastic creep and increase the speed response of the dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA).
Highlights
Dielectric elastomers (DEs) are a combination of dielectric electroactive polymers
Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are a type of soft material actuator that can deform in response to voltage [3,4]
Experimental results have shown that the stress-strain curves of DEs are closely related to tensile rates [15], and the strain under-voltage excitation is closely related to time [16,17]
Summary
Dielectric elastomers (DEs) are a combination of dielectric electroactive polymers. The DE actuator structure consists of a thin membrane of elastomer sandwiched between two compliant electrodes. When subjected to a voltage across its thickness, such a material expands in area and shrinks in thickness based on the effects of Maxwell stress [1,2]. This behavior can facilitate intriguing muscle-like behavior for the development of soft robots. Compared to other smart elastomer materials, DEs exhibit desirable attributes, such as high strain rates (up to 380%), high efficiency (up to 90%), high energy density (3.4 J/g), low modulus, simple structure, and excellent environmental compliance [5,6,7]. DEs have artificial muscle properties and are widely used in robotic fields for the development of jellyfish robots [8], hexapod robots [9], annelid robots [10], and wall climbing robots [11], and have been extensively used in many scientific fields for the development of artificial muscles, soft sensors, optical devices, and energy generators
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