Designing And Electromechanical Study Of Dielectric Elastomer Devices

Various applications of dielectric elastomers (DEs) have been realized in recent years due to their lightweight, low cost, large actuation and fast response. In this paper, we present three major works concerning soft material devices and the corresponding FEM simulations.Firstly, A DE membrane with a pattern of electrodes is mounted on an air chamber. It is first inflated by air pressure and then further deformed by applying voltage. Under higher voltage, an acrylic membrane with larger actuation can induce shape instability and demonstrate multi-phase coexistence behavior. Later, finite element simulations are carried out and are in good agreement with those obtained by experiments.Maintaining high voltage on DE membranes can cause various failures, which limits their practical applications. This paper proposes a new actuation method using DE membranes with properly designed bi-stable structure. Experiment shows that the actuator only requires a high-voltage pulse to drive the structure forward and backward with electromechanical snap-through instability. The actuator can remain its stroke when the voltage is removed. An analytical model based on continuum mechanics is developed.Lastly, this article presents a soft robot made of elastomeric frame and electroactive membranes, which demonstrates the characteristics of high survivability, fast moving, controllable turning, low noise, and carrying multi-functional payloads. Soft machines with novel functionalities are revolutionizing various areas, such as medical devices, field exploration, and prosthetics.