Electroactive polymer devices for active vibration damping

Abstract

Dielectric elastomer generators can be used as continuously controllable damping devices, by using e.g. a design with two single circular devices, clamped on the upside and downside of a rigid pipe and mechanically mounted in series with a piston inside the rigid pipe. In case of a mechanical excitation of the piston through the vibrating surface, one of the generators is stretched, while the other contracts and vice versa respectively. By using an appropriate concept for charging and discharging, the controllable damper can then be used for vibration isolation. These concepts are evaluated by simulation results with the two generator concept.

Increasing the performance of dielectric elastomer actuators: A review from the materials perspective

“…Examples of DEA bio-mimetic robots include a fishlike propulsion airship [182] and inchworm robots [183], complex walking robots [184], transparent "active skins" [185] and motors for the eyeballs of an android face [186]. and other applications include (Figure 18), refreshable Braille and tactile displays [187][188][189], motion capture suits [190], micro-pumps [191][192][193][194], loudspeakers [195], variable focus lenses [196][197][198][199], active isolation devices for cancelation of vibrations [200,201] and even shape controllers of lightweight mirrors [202]. It is envisioned that, as DE materials and design improve, this technology will find further applications in the medical and industrial sector.…”

DIESYS—dynamically non-linear dielectric elastomer energy generating synergetic structures: perspectives and challenges

“…Aerodynamic or hydrodynamic instability phenomena are also considered, such as the Eel, a type of 'flag' able to adapt its shape to the spatial pattern of a vortex flow (Giacomello and Porfiri 2011), vortex induced vibrations (VIVs) (Bernitsas et al 2008, Jung andLee 2011), transverse galloping (Barrero-Gil et al 2010) and flutter instabilities, such as the 'artificial leaf' concept (Li et al 2012). Other potential energy sources include ocean waves (Falcão 2010) and shock/vibration absorbers (Papaspiridis and Antoniadis 2008, Karsten et al 2011, where DEs can be used as electrical energy generators, in order to enhance the passive mechanical vibration damping capabilities of the DE material (Graf and Maas 2011).…”

“…Typically, (2) must be completed by the equation of the electrical model of the DEG (Graf et al 2010). However, as shown in Graf and Maas (2011), an equivalent damping ratio can be used to model the energy transfer in the electrical part. Therefore, the damping terms in (2) combine the natural passive damping mechanisms of the structure with the energy transfer to the electrical part.…”

Fully inkjet-printed dielectric elastomer actuators

“…5,6 DEAs have been explored as active components in soft robots, 7 microfluidic devices, [8][9][10][11] tactile displays, 12,13 deformable mirrors, 14 and isolation systems for suppression of vibrations. 15,16 Additive manufacturing (AM) techniques are highly appealing for the versatile design and construction of functional transducers in various sizes and shapes, enabling more complex structuring (e.g., multilayered actuators) and reducing the labor intensity of the fabrication process. However, in the context of eEAP transducers production, AM methods are still in the early stages of development and present non-trivial challenges.…”