Experimental characterization of the hysteretic and rate-dependent electromechanical behavior of dielectric electro-active polymer actuators

Abstract

Dielectric electro-active polymers (DEAPs) can achieve substantial deformation (>300% strain) while sustaining, compared to their ionic counterparts, large forces. This makes them attractive for various actuation and sensing applications such as in light weight and energy efficient valve and pumping systems. Many applications operate DEAP actuators at higher frequencies where rate-dependent effects influence their performance. This motivates the seeking of dynamic characterization of these actuators beyond the quasi-static regime. This paper provides a systematic experimental investigation of the quasi-static and dynamic electromechanical properties of a DEAP actuator. In order to completely characterize the fully coupled behavior, force versus displacement measurements at various constant voltages and force versus voltage measurements at various fixed displacements are conducted. The experiments are conducted with a particular focus on the hysteretic and rate-dependent material behavior. These experiments provide insight into the electrical dynamics and viscoelastic relaxation inherent in DEAP actuators. This study is intended to provide information, including high frequency performance analysis, useful to anyone designing dynamic actuator systems using DEAPs.

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

“…The experiment made by York et al (2010) focused on the hysteretic and rate-dependent material behavior. The experimental set-up and a sketch of the experimental set-up are shown in Fig.…”

Dynamic Electromechanical Response of a Viscoelastic Dielectric Elastomer under Cycle Electric Loads

“…The time-dependency of a DE can cause dissipation in the system and significantly affect its dynamic performance and coupling efficiency [25,26]. In particular, experiments have shown that viscoelasticity can significantly influence the electromechanical transduction and its application [4,9,10,[25][26][27].…”

Bifurcation of a dielectric elastomer balloon under pressurized inflation and electric actuation

“…Various aspects of the uniform inflation problem, such as the so-called limitingpoint instability, have been examined by Mockensturm and Goulbourne (2006), Zhu et al (2010), He et al (2011), Rudykh et al (2012), Keplinger et al (2012), and Dorfmann and Ogden (2014b). York et al (2010) and De Tommasi et al (2014) studied the hysteresis effects commonly exhibited in such structures.…”