Electroactive Polymer Actuators in Dynamic Applications

Kaal, William; Herold, Sven

doi:10.1109/tmech.2010.2089529

Cited by 72 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…DE structure has several prominent advantages, such as light weight, low compliance, high stretch ability (more than 100%), short response time, high energy density, high efficiency over a broad range of frequencies, and chemical and biological compatibility (Pelrine et al, 2002;Ashley, 2003;O'Halloran et al, 2008;Zhao and Wang, 2014). Thus, DE structure has received extensive attention in many fields of engineering, such as artificial muscle, adaptive optical element, soft robot, programmable haptical surface, resonator, electromechanical transducer, and vibration control (Kovacs et al, 2009;Son and Goulbourne, 2009;Berardi, 2010;2013;Brochu and Pei, 2010;McKay et al, 2010;Kaal and Herold, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Typical dielectric elastomer structures: dynamics and application in structural vibration control

Huang

Jin

Ruan

et al. 2016

J. Zhejiang Univ. Sci. A

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Abstract:In recent years, dielectric elastomer (DE) structures have received great attention in various fields of engineering, such as artificial muscle, soft robot, resonator, and structural vibration control, due to its prominent advantages. In the present paper, the theoretical and experimental research into the dynamical behavior of DE structures and their application for vibration control is reviewed. In the theoretical research into dynamical behavior, from a mechanics viewpoint, DE structures are usually categorized into four types, i.e., spherical, rectangular, tubular, and circular. For each type of DE structure, the mathematical description is given and the dynamical behavior, such as the resonant property, jump, and bifurcation, is summarized. Moreover, the work on dynamical experiments is briefly outlined. In the application for vibration control, stack-type and tubular-type DE structures usually used as actuators are surveyed. The established control algorithms for the controlled systems using DE actuators are described. The challenges for the research into the dynamics of DE structure and its application for vibration control and some promising theories which may be applied for the research are pointed out.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Typical dielectric elastomer structures: dynamics and application in structural vibration control

Huang

Jin

Ruan

et al. 2016

J. Zhejiang Univ. Sci. A

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“…At Fraunhofer LBF a novel design approach for dielectric elastomer transducers was developed and tested in various applications [12,13,18]. It is based on rigid metal electrodes comprising a microscopic hole pattern, allowing the elastomer to locally deform in these cavities when a high voltage signal is applied (see Figure 1).…”

Section: Working Principle and Theory Of Dielectric Elastomers With Pmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a first conclusion, it seems that increasing the bias voltage is beneficial while the alternating voltage should be limited to avoid nonlinear distortion in the emitted sound. The nonlinearity is intrinsic in DEAP actuators and several studies have looked at reducing its influence, by shaping the input voltage or using a push-pull configuration [1,18,20]. In this paper, none of these methods has been adopted but the nonlinearity has been minimised by keeping the alternating voltage low.…”

Section: Effects Of Bias and Alternating Voltagementioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Characterisation of a Flat Dielectric Elastomer Loudspeaker

et al. 2018

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Conventional loudspeakers are often heavy, require substantial design spaces and are hard to integrate into lightweight structures (e.g., panels). To overcome these drawbacks, this paper presents a novel extremely flat loudspeaker which uses dielectric elastomer actuators with natural rubber for the elastomeric layers and metal electrodes as transduction mechanism. To facilitate the deformation of the elastomer, the electrodes are perforated. The microscopic holes lead to a macroscopically compressible stack configuration despite the elastomer incompressibility. The design is developed and the materials are chosen to guarantee low mechanical and electrical losses and a high efficiency in the entire frequency range up to several kilohertz. The loudspeaker was designed, built and afterwards experimentally investigated and characterised. Laser measurements of the surface velocity were performed to find dynamic effects present at the diaphragm. To further characterise the device, a semi anechoic chamber as used. Sound pressure levels emitted by the device were recorded at different bias and alternating voltages to study their influence. The nonlinearity of the loudspeaker, which is inherent for this kind of actuators, was quantified considering the total harmonic distortion. Here, a dependence on the amplitude of the alternating voltage is observed. Further, the distortion decreases rapidly the higher the frequency is, which qualifies the loudspeaker concept to properly work at high frequencies. Transfer functions between supplied voltage and on-axis sound pressure were measured and showed in principle potential for high frequency application. Further, the behaviour of the diaphragm changing from rigid piston to resilient disk with respect to frequency for different configurations was observed. Additionally, the directivity of the loudspeaker was investigated at several frequencies, and was in accordance with previously found research outcomes. The results, especially in the high frequency range, prove the usability of this design concept for practical applications.

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“…Furthermore, one must be able to generate accelerations in both the positive and negative directions, ruling out solenoids. While more advanced actuation technologies exist that could meet these requirements (e.g., [14]), voice-coil actuators (VCAs) are a good choice because they are commercially available, reasonably compact, easy to control, and safe. Commonly used in audio speakers [21] and linear positioning systems [9], voice-coil actuators consist of a permanent magnet and a coil winding connected via a compliant suspension.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic modeling and control of voice-coil actuators for high-fidelity display of haptic vibrations

McMahan

Kuchenbecker

2014

2014 IEEE Haptics Symposium (HAPTICS)

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Researchers have demonstrated haptic interfaces that display highfrequency vibrations by applying an oscillating waveform to a linear voice-coil actuator (also referred to as a linear resonant or recoil-type actuator). Seeking to optimize the performance of this class of haptic devices, this paper analyzes the electrical and mechanical dynamics of this haptic display approach. Experimental evaluation of the most common commercial voice-coil actuator, the Tactile Labs Haptuator, reveals how the drive circuitry, the actuator's suspension, and the user's hand impedance affect the system's frequency response and thus distort the desired vibration output. Compared to current-drive, voltage-drive circuitry beneficially increases the effective damping of this underdamped system. Previously assumed to be linear, the system's dynamic response is found to depend highly on the material used for the actuator's suspension; the nonlinearity of the standard Haptuator suspension undesirably causes the resonant frequency to shift based on the amplitude of the input signal. We reduce the output distortion by installing a more linear suspension material, and we use a feedforward controller to compensate for the remaining dynamics, instead of the standard constant-gain controller. Considering the metrics of unity frequency response and spectral dissimilarity, our approach considerably reduces the distortion presented to the user.

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Electroactive Polymer Actuators in Dynamic Applications

Cited by 72 publications

References 11 publications

Typical dielectric elastomer structures: dynamics and application in structural vibration control

Typical dielectric elastomer structures: dynamics and application in structural vibration control

Experimental Characterisation of a Flat Dielectric Elastomer Loudspeaker

Dynamic modeling and control of voice-coil actuators for high-fidelity display of haptic vibrations

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