Buckling of dielectric elastomeric plates for soft, electrically active microfluidic pumps

Tavakol, Behrouz; Bozlar, Michael; Punckt, Christian; Froehlicher, Guillaume; Stone, Howard A.; Aksay, İlhan A.; Holmes, Douglas P.

doi:10.1039/c4sm00753k

Cited by 61 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…5 Owing to this simple working principle, their low cost, light weight, fast response, and particularly their ability to sustain large strains, 6,7 various mechanisms using soft dielectrics were developed; haptic feedbacks, mini-robots, pumps, and miniature grippers are only a few examples. 8,9 Tunable dynamic behavior of dielectric elastomers has been extensively investigated recently. [10][11][12][13][14] Heterogeneity has a significant role in this regard, as its modification, in turn, influences the manner waves disperse.…”

Section: Manipulating Torsional Motions Of Soft Dielectric Tubesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Manipulating torsional motions of soft dielectric tubes

Gal

2015

Journal of Applied Physics

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Tubular dielectric elastomers function as actuators by application of a radial voltage difference. This work demonstrates how the applied electric field can be exploited to manipulate their torsional motion. The approach employed considers torsional elastic waves superposed on a finitely deformed configuration, which depends on bias electromechanical loadings. The theory of nonlinear electroelasticity is utilized to derive the corresponding governing equations. These are analyzed analytically and numerically, as functions of the thickness of the tube, the mechanical constraints, and most importantly the applied voltage. The analysis shows how dispersive waves beyond a certain length are filtered across a frequency band, and are significantly accelerated above it. This phenomenon observed to strongly depend on the applied voltage, in a non-linear manner.

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Section: Manipulating Torsional Motions Of Soft Dielectric Tubesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Manipulating torsional motions of soft dielectric tubes

Gal

2015

Journal of Applied Physics

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“…2,3 Constraining the film from expanding by clamping its edges causes an additional compressive stress to develop within the film, which will cause it to buckle if it exceeds a critical magnitude determined by its geometry and material properties. 4 For large deformations, compliance is desired, and a variety of electrode systems have been utilized 5 including carbon grease, 2 silicone rubber embedded with carbon black, 3 ionic elastomers, 6 and electrodeless ion-bombardment. 7 In this Letter, we utilize a fluid electrode to buckle a thin film embedded within a microfluidic channel.…”

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confidence: 99%

Voltage-induced buckling of dielectric films using fluid electrodes

Tavakol

Holmes

2016

Applied Physics Letters

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Accurate and integrable control of different flows within microfluidic channels is crucial to further development of lab-on-a-chip and fully integrated adaptable structures. Here we introduce a flexible microactuator that buckles at a high deformation rate and alters the downstream fluid flow. The microactuator consists of a confined, thin, dielectric film that buckles into the microfluidic channel when exposed to voltage supplied through conductive fluid electrodes. We estimate the critical buckling voltage, and characterize the buckled shape of the actuator. Finally, we investigate the effects of frequency, flow rate, and the pressure differences on the behavior of the buckling structure and the resulting fluid flow. These results demonstrate that the voltage-induced buckling of embedded microstructures using fluid electrodes provides a means for high speed attenuation of microfluidic flow.Dielectric actuators consist of an electrically insulating film that can be polarized through an applied electric field, commonly implemented by adhering the film between two electrodes.

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“…(In)stability is instrumentalized for beneficial material or structural behavior such as, e.g., soft devices undergoing dramatic shape changes [20][21][22], propagating stable signals in lossy media [23] or controlling microfluidics [24], large reversible deformation of cellular solids [25,26], morphing surfaces and structures [27,28], highdamping devices and energy-absorbing technologies from nanotubes to macrodevices [29][30][31][32], acoustic wave guides and metamaterials [33][34][35][36], composites with extreme viscoelastic performance [37][38][39][40], or materials with actively controllable physical properties [41,42]. Especially at the macroscopic level, structural instability and the associated large deformation of soft matter have produced many multifunctional devices that exploit buckling, snapping, and creazing to result in beneficial acoustic or mechanical performance, see Ref.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploiting Microstructural Instabilities in Solids and Structures: From Metamaterials to Structural Transitions

Kochmann

Bertoldi

2017

Applied Mechanics Reviews

189

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Instabilities in solids and structures are ubiquitous across all length and time scales, and engineering design principles have commonly aimed at preventing instability. However, over the past two decades, engineering mechanics has undergone a paradigm shift, away from avoiding instability and toward taking advantage thereof. At the core of all instabilities-both at the microstructural scale in materials and at the macroscopic, structural level-lies a nonconvex potential energy landscape which is responsible, e.g., for phase transitions and domain switching, localization, pattern formation, or structural buckling and snapping. Deliberately driving a system close to, into, and beyond the unstable regime has been exploited to create new materials systems with superior, interesting, or extreme physical properties. Here, we review the state-of-the-art in utilizing mechanical instabilities in solids and structures at the microstructural level in order to control macroscopic (meta)material performance. After a brief theoretical review, we discuss examples of utilizing material instabilities (from phase transitions and ferroelectric switching to extreme composites) as well as examples of exploiting structural instabilities in acoustic and mechanical metamaterials.

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Buckling of dielectric elastomeric plates for soft, electrically active microfluidic pumps

Cited by 61 publications

References 30 publications

Manipulating torsional motions of soft dielectric tubes

Manipulating torsional motions of soft dielectric tubes

Voltage-induced buckling of dielectric films using fluid electrodes

Exploiting Microstructural Instabilities in Solids and Structures: From Metamaterials to Structural Transitions

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