Analysis and manufacture of an energy harvester based on a Mooney-Rivlin–type dielectric elastomer

Liu, Yanju; Liu, Liwu; Zhang, Zhen; Jiao, Yang; Sun, Shouhua; Leng, Jinsong

doi:10.1209/0295-5075/90/36004

Cited by 84 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Liu et al 105 and Diaz-Calleja and LloveraSegovia 106 have shown how Mooney-Rivlin can be used to map safe design limits for a DEG, a development that could be useful for theoretical optimization studies with finite elements.…”

Section: Energy Harvestingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-functional dielectric elastomer artificial muscles for soft and smart machines

Anderson

Gisby²,

McKay³

et al. 2012

Journal of Applied Physics

548

314

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Dielectric elastomer (DE) actuators are popularly referred to as artificial muscles because their impressive actuation strain and speed, low density, compliant nature, and silent operation capture many of the desirable physical properties of muscle. Unlike conventional robots and machines, whose mechanisms and drive systems rapidly become very complex as the number of degrees of freedom increases, groups of DE artificial muscles have the potential to generate rich motions combining many translational and rotational degrees of freedom. These artificial muscle systems can mimic the agonist-antagonist approach found in nature, so that active expansion of one artificial muscle is taken up by passive contraction in the other. They can also vary their stiffness. In addition, they have the ability to produce electricity from movement. But departing from the high stiffness paradigm of electromagnetic motors and gearboxes leads to new control challenges, and for soft machines to be truly dexterous like their biological analogues, they need precise control. Humans control their limbs using sensory feedback from strain sensitive cells embedded in muscle. In DE actuators, deformation is inextricably linked to changes in electrical parameters that include capacitance and resistance, so the state of strain can be inferred by sensing these changes, enabling the closed loop control that is critical for a soft machine. But the increased information processing required for a soft machine can impose a substantial burden on a central controller. The natural solution is to distribute control within the mechanism itself. The octopus arm is an example of a soft actuator with a virtually infinite number of degrees of freedom (DOF). The arm utilizes neural ganglia to process sensory data at the local “arm” level and perform complex tasks. Recent advances in soft electronics such as the piezoresistive dielectric elastomer switch (DES) have the potential to be fully integrated with actuators and sensors. With the DE switch, we can produce logic gates, oscillators, and a memory element, the building blocks for a soft computer, thus bringing us closer to emulating smart living structures like the octopus arm. The goal of future research is to develop fully soft machines that exploit smart actuation networks to gain capabilities formerly reserved to nature, and open new vistas in mechanical engineering.

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Section: Energy Harvestingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-functional dielectric elastomer artificial muscles for soft and smart machines

Anderson

Gisby²,

McKay³

et al. 2012

Journal of Applied Physics

548

314

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show abstract

“…(19) Leng et al (2009) and studied the electromechanical stability problem of a DE membrane during actuation. Liu et al (2010) calculated the allowable area of a DE energy harvester based on the Mooney-Rivlin type energy function. In order to describe the electromechanical behaviors of a particular DE material, a key procedure is to build up its constitutive law with a proper energy function.…”

Section: Ideal Desmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanics of dielectric elastomers: materials, structures, and devices

Qian

2016

JZUS-A

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Dielectric elastomers (DEs) respond to applied electric voltage with a surprisingly large deformation, showing a promising capability to generate actuation in mimicking natural muscles. A theoretical foundation of the mechanics of DEs is of crucial importance in designing DE-based structures and devices. In this review, we survey some recent theoretical and numerical efforts in exploring several aspects of electroactive materials, with emphases on the governing equations of electromechanical coupling, constitutive laws, viscoelastic behaviors, electromechanical instability as well as actuation applications. An overview of analytical models is provided based on the representative approach of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, with computational analyses being required in more generalized situations such as irregular shape, complex configuration, and time-dependent deformation. Theoretical efforts have been devoted to enhancing the working limits of DE actuators by avoiding electromechanical instability as well as electric breakdown, and pre-strains are shown to effectively avoid the two failure modes. These studies lay a solid foundation to facilitate the use of DE materials, structures, and devices in a wide range of applications such as biomedical devices, adaptive systems, robotics, energy harvesting, etc.

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“…And in fact, the high responsiveness, large strain capabilities and viscoelastic behaviour of elastomers [34] mean they are ideal materials for such responsive devices [21,20]. Kimura et al [16] produced a carbon fibre/agarose gel composite in which carbon fibres were radially embedded in the gel; by subjecting the sample to a strong homogeneous magnetic field (up to 8 T), large deformations were observed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fabrication and characterisation of short fibre reinforced elastomer composites for bending and twisting magnetic actuation

Stanier

Ciambella

Rahatekar

2016

Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing

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Analysis and manufacture of an energy harvester based on a Mooney-Rivlin–type dielectric elastomer

Cited by 84 publications

References 41 publications

Multi-functional dielectric elastomer artificial muscles for soft and smart machines

Multi-functional dielectric elastomer artificial muscles for soft and smart machines

Mechanics of dielectric elastomers: materials, structures, and devices

Fabrication and characterisation of short fibre reinforced elastomer composites for bending and twisting magnetic actuation

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