In this work, the mechanical and the self-healing behaviors of an ethylene-co-methacrylic acid ionomer were investigated in different testing conditions. The self-healing capability was explored by ballistic impact tests at low-velocity, midvelocity, and hypervelocity bullet speed; different experimental conditions such as sample thickness and bullet diameter were examined; in all impact tests, spherical projectiles were used. These experiments, in particular those at low and midspeed, allowed to define a critical ratio between sample thickness and bullet diameter below which full repair was not observed. After ballistic damage, the healing efficiency was evaluated by applying a pressure gradient through tested samples. Subsequently, morphology analysis of the affected areas was made observing all tested samples by scanning electron microscope. This analysis revealed different characteristic features of the damaged zones affected at different projectile speed. Stress–strain curves in uniaxial tension performed at different temperatures and strain rates revealed yield strength and postyield behavior significantly affected by these two parameters. A rise of temperature during high strain rate tests in the viscoplastic deformation region was also detected. This behavior has a strong influence on the self-repair-ing mechanism exhibited by the studied material during high-energy impact tests

Among various dielectric elastomer devices, cone actuators are of large interest for their multidegree-of-freedom design. These objects combine the common advantages of dielectric elastomers (i.e. solid-state actuation, self-sensing capability, high conversion efficiency, light weight and low cost) with the possibility to actuate more than one degree of freedom in a single device. The potential applications of this feature in robotics are huge, making cone actuators very attractive. This work focuses on rotational degrees of freedom to complete existing literature and improve the understanding of such aspect. Simple tools are presented for the performance prediction of the device: finite element method simulations and interpolating relations have been used to assess the actuator steady-state behaviour in terms of torque and rotation as a function of geometric parameters. Results are interpolated by fit relations accounting for all the relevant parameters. The obtained data are validated through comparison with experimental results: steady-state torque and rotation are determined at a given high voltage actuation. In addition, the transient response to step input has been measured and, as a result, the voltage-to-torque and the voltage-to-rotation transfer functions are obtained. Experimental data are collected and used to validate the prediction capability of the transfer function in terms of time response to step input and frequency response. The developed static and dynamic models have been employed to implement a feedback compensator that controls the device motion; the simulated behaviour is compared to experimental data, resulting in a maximum prediction error of 7.5%.

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