Numerical Simulation Research On Power Generation Performance Of Dielectric Elastomer Generator

In recent years,energy conservation,emission reduction and the development of new energy sources have become the fundamental way for countries all over the world to solve the increasingly serious energy problems.Dielectric elastomer generators have attracted more and more attention because of their high energy density,large deformation,wide application range,and low cost.As a typical non-linear viscoelastic material,the dielectric elastomer has an impact on the power generation performance due to the hysteresis loss during the working process.However,most of the current researches on the calculation of power generation performance assumes that the dielectric elastomer is a highly elastic material.And the hysteresis viscosity loss is ignored.This dissertation studied the viscoelastic algorithm of dielectric elastomer materials,combined with the viscous loss of dielectric elastomer generators,and conducted a numerical simulation study on its power generation performance.The main research contents are as follows:1.Based on the experimental results of the dynamic mechanical properties of dielectric elastomer materials,considering the influence of strain amplitude and frequency,the calculation method of material hysteresis loss was established.Then,the hysteresis loss algorithm was verified experimentally through natural rubber composite materials and silicone rubber composite materials,which proved the accuracy of the algorithm.2.Based on the established hysteresis loss calculation method,the finite element software ABAQUS was used to establish the power generation performance calculation model,the energy conversion process of the dielectric elastic generator in a working cycle was analyzed,and the tensile capacitance and Maxwell electrostatic force were established.The calculation method was to simulate the cyclic process under different working conditions,and analyzed the factors affecting the power generation performance of the dielectric elastic generator.The simulation results were verified experimentally through the built power generation device,which proved the accuracy and validity of the simulation results.The calculation results show that increasing the applied initial voltage and increasing the maximum stretching distance during operation can improve the power generation performance of the dielectric elastomer generator.In addition,the calculation results when the initial voltage is 6.5 KV and the maximum stretching distance is 30 mm show that the viscoelastic hysteresis loss during the single-cycle power generation process is about 9.4 mJ,and the input mechanical work is about 39.74 mJ,which is about a quarter.One’s input mechanical work is dissipated due to viscoelasticity and not converted into electrical energy,which proves that the viscoelastic hysteresis loss will affect the power generation performance.3.Through the simulation calculation of the power generation performance of the two kinds of power generation devices working in the plane tension mode and the equiaxial tension mode,it is found that the circular power generation device working in the equiaxial tension mode has better power generation performance.The research results of this dissertation can provide certain guidance and help for the design and structural optimization of dielectric elastomer generators.