High voltage is required for the existing dielectric elastomer (DE) actuators to convert electrical energy to mechanical energy. However, maintaining high voltage on DE membranes can cause various failures, such as current leakage and electrical breakdown, which limits their practical applications, especially in small-scale devices. To overcome the above drawback of DE actuators, this paper proposes a new actuation method using DE membranes with a properly designed bistable 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 maintain its stroke when the voltage is removed. An analytical model based on continuum mechanics is developed, showing good agreement with experiment. The study may inspire the design and optimization of DE transducers.

References

1.
Hirai
,
T.
,
Nemoto
,
H.
,
Hirai
,
M.
, and
Hayashi
,
S.
,
1994
, “
Electrostriction of Highly Swollen Polymer Gel: Possible Application for Gel Actuator
,”
J. Appl. Polym. Sci.
,
53
, pp.
79
84
.10.1002/app.1994.070530109
2.
Liang
,
C.
,
Sun
,
F.
, and
Rogers
,
C.
,
1994
, “
Coupled Electro-Mechanical Analysis of Adaptive Material Systems—Determination of the Actuator Power Consumption and System Energy Transfer
,”
J. Intell. Mater. Syst. Struct.
,
5
, pp.
12
20
.10.1177/1045389X9400500102
3.
Heydt
,
R.
,
Kornbluh
,
R.
,
Pelrine
,
R.
, and
Mason
,
V.
,
1998
, “
Design and Performance of an Electrostrictive-Polymer-Film Acoustic Actuator
,”
J. Sound. Vib.
,
215
, pp.
297
311
.10.1006/jsvi.1998.1642
4.
Pelrine
,
R. E.
,
Kornbluh
,
R. D.
, and
Joseph
,
J. P.
,
1998
, “
Electrostriction of Polymer Dielectrics With Compliant Electrodes as a Means of Actuation
,”
Sens. Actuators A
,
64
, pp.
77
85
.10.1016/S0924-4247(97)01657-9
5.
Zanna
,
J.
,
Nguyen
,
H.
,
Parneix
,
J.
,
Ruffié
,
G.
, and
Mauzac
,
M.
,
1999
, “
Dielectric Properties of Side Chain Liquid Crystalline Elastomers: Influence of Crosslinking on Side Chain Dynamics
,”
Eur. Phys. J. B
,
10
, pp.
345
351
.10.1007/s100510050863
6.
Koh
,
S. J. A.
,
Li
,
T.
,
Zhou
,
J.
,
Zhao
,
X.
,
Hong
,
W.
,
Zhu
,
J.
, and
Suo
,
Z.
,
2011
, “
Mechanisms of Large Actuation Strain in Dielectric Elastomers
,”
J. Polym. Sci. B
,
49
, pp.
504
515
.10.1002/polb.22223
7.
Pelrine
,
R.
,
Kornbluh
,
R.
,
Pei
,
Q.
, and
Joseph
,
J.
,
2000
, “
High-Speed Electrically Actuated Elastomers With Strain Greater Than 100%
,”
Science
,
287
, pp.
836
839
.10.1126/science.287.5454.836
8.
Carpi
,
F.
,
De Rossi
,
D.
, and
Kornbluh
,
R.
,
2008
,
Dielectric Elastomers as Electromechanical Transducers: Fundamentals, Materials, Devices, Models and Applications of an Emerging Electroactive Polymer Technology
,
Elsevier
,
Oxford, UK
.
9.
Anderson
,
I. A.
,
Ieropoulos
,
I. A.
,
McKay
,
T.
,
O'Brien
,
B.
, and
Melhuish
,
C.
,
2011
, “
Power for Robotic Artificial Muscles
,”
IEEE/ASME Trans. Mechatron.
,
16
, pp.
107
111
.10.1109/TMECH.2010.2090894
10.
O'Brien
,
B. M.
,
Calius
,
E. P.
,
Inamura
,
T.
,
Xie
,
S. Q.
, and
Anderson
,
I. A.
,
2010
, “
Dielectric Elastomer Switches for Smart Artificial Muscles
,”
Appl. Phys. A
,
100
, pp.
385
389
.10.1007/s00339-010-5857-z
11.
Zhu
,
J.
,
Kollosche
,
M.
,
Lu
,
T.
,
Kofod
,
G.
, and
Suo
,
Z.
,
2012
, “
Two Types of Transitions to Wrinkles in Dielectric Elastomers
,”
Soft Matter
,
8
, pp.
8840
8846
.10.1039/c2sm26034d
12.
Huang
,
J.
,
Li
,
T.
,
Chiang Foo
,
C.
,
Zhu
,
J.
,
Clarke
,
D. R.
, and
Suo
,
Z.
,
2012
, “
Giant, Voltage-Actuated Deformation of a Dielectric Elastomer Under Dead Load
,”
App. Phys. Lett.
,
100
, p.
041911
.10.1063/1.3680591
13.
Wang
,
H.
,
Cai
,
S.
,
Carpi
,
F.
, and
Suo
,
Z.
,
2012
, “
Computational Model of Hydrostatically Coupled Dielectric Elastomer Actuators
,”
ASME J. Appl. Mech.
,
79
, p.
031008
.10.1115/1.4005885
14.
Goulbourne
,
N.
,
Mockensturm
,
E.
, and
Frecker
,
M.
,
2005
, “
A Nonlinear Model for Dielectric Elastomer Membranes
,”
ASME J. Appl. Mech.
,
72
, pp.
899
906
.10.1115/1.2047597
15.
Qu
,
S.
,
Li
,
K.
,
Li
,
T.
,
Jiang
,
H.
,
Wang
,
M.
, and
Li
,
Z.
,
2012
, “
Rate Dependent Stress-Stretch Relation of Dielectric Elastomers Subjected to Pure Shear Like Loading and Electric Field
,”
Acta Mech. Solida Sinica
,
25
, pp.
542
549
.10.1016/S0894-9166(12)60048-2
16.
Li
,
T.
,
Keplinger
,
C.
,
Baumgartner
,
R.
,
Bauer
,
S.
,
Yang
,
W.
, and
Suo
,
Z.
,
2012
, “
Giant Voltage-Induced Deformation in Dielectric Elastomers Near the Verge of Snap-Through Instability
,”
J. Mech. Phys. Solids
,
61
, pp.
611
628
.10.1016/j.jmps.2012.09.006
17.
Zou
,
Z.
,
Li
,
T.
,
Qu
,
S.
, and
Yu
,
H.
, “
Active Shape Control and Phase Coexistence of Dielectric Elastomer Membrane With Patterned Electrodes
,”
ASME J. Appl. Mech.
(to be published). 10.1115/1.4025416
18.
Liu
,
L.
,
Liu
,
Y.
,
Li
,
B.
,
Yang
,
K.
,
Li
,
T.
, and
Leng
,
J.
,
2011
, “
Thermo-Electro-Mechanical Instability of Dielectric Elastomers
,”
Smart Mater. Struct.
,
20
, p.
075004
.10.1088/0964-1726/20/7/075004
19.
Lotz
,
P.
,
Matysek
,
M.
,
Lechner
,
P.
,
Hamann
,
M.
, and
Schlaak
,
H. F.
,
2008
, “
Dielectric Elastomer Actuators Using Improved Thin Film Processing and Nanosized Particles
,”
Electroactive Polym. Actuators Devices
,
6927
, p.
692723
.10.1117/12.776197
20.
Hawkes
,
E.
,
An
,
B.
,
Benbernou
,
N.
,
Tanaka
,
H.
,
Kim
,
S.
,
Demaine
,
E.
,
Rus
,
D.
, and
Wood
,
R.
,
2010
, “
Programmable Matter by Folding
,”
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
,
107
, pp.
12441
12445
.10.1073/pnas.0914069107
21.
Kofod
,
G.
,
Paajanen
,
M.
, and
Bauer
,
S.
,
2006
, “
Self-Organized Minimum-Energy Structures for Dielectric Elastomer Actuators
,”
Appl. Phys. A
,
85
, pp.
141
143
.10.1007/s00339-006-3680-3
22.
Suo
,
Z.
,
2010
, “
Theory of Dielectric Elastomers
,”
Acta Mech. Solida Sinica
,
23
, pp.
549
578
.10.1016/S0894-9166(11)60004-9
23.
Suo
,
Z.
,
Zhao
,
X.
, and
Greene
,
W. H.
,
2008
, “
A Nonlinear Field Theory of Deformable Dielectrics
,”
J. Mech. Phys. Solids
,
56
, pp.
467
486
.10.1016/j.jmps.2007.05.021
24.
Zhao
,
X.
, and
Suo
,
Z.
,
2008
, “
Method to Analyze Programmable Deformation of Dielectric Elastomer Layers
,”
Appl. Phys. Lett.
,
93
, p.
251902
.10.1063/1.3054159
25.
Lu
,
T.-Q.
, and
Suo
,
Z.-G.
,
2012
, “
Large Conversion of Energy in Dielectric Elastomers by Electromechanical Phase Transition
,”
Acta Mech. Solida Sinica
,
28
, pp.
1106
1114
.10.1007/s10409-012-0091-x
26.
Fox
,
J.
, and
Goulbourne
,
N.
,
2009
, “
Electric Field-Induced Surface Transformations and Experimental Dynamic Characteristics of Dielectric Elastomer Membranes
,”
J. Mech. Phys. Solids
,
57
, pp.
1417
1435
.10.1016/j.jmps.2009.03.008
27.
Keplinger
,
C.
,
Li
,
T.
,
Baumgartner
,
R.
,
Suo
,
Z.
, and
Bauer
,
S.
,
2012
, “
Harnessing Snap-Through Instability in Soft Dielectrics to Achieve Giant Voltage-Triggered Deformation
,”
Soft Matter
,
8
, pp.
285
288
.10.1039/c1sm06736b
28.
Wissler
,
M.
, and
Mazza
,
E.
,
2007
, “
Electromechanical Coupling in Dielectric Elastomer Actuators
,”
Sens. Actuators A
,
138
, pp.
384
393
.10.1016/j.sna.2007.05.029
29.
Li
,
T.
,
Qu
,
S.
, and
Yang
,
W.
,
2012
, “
Electromechanical and Dynamic Analyses of Tunable Dielectric Elastomer Resonator
,”
Int. J. Solids Struct.
,
49
, pp.
3754
3761
.10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2012.08.006
30.
Camescasse
,
B.
,
Fernandes
,
A.
, and
Pouget
,
J.
,
2013
, “
Bistable Buckled Beam: Elastica Modelling and Analysis of Static Actuation
,”
Int. J. Solids Struct.
,
50
, pp.
2881
2893
.10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2013.05.005
31.
Gent
,
A.
,
1996
, “
A New Constitutive Relation for Rubber
,”
Rubber Chem. Technol.
,
69
, pp.
59
61
.10.5254/1.3538357
32.
Li
,
T.
,
Qu
,
S.
, and
Yang
,
W.
,
2012
, “
Energy Harvesting of Dielectric Elastomer Generators Concerning Inhomogeneous Fields and Viscoelastic Deformation
,”
J. Appl. Phys.
,
112
, p.
034119
.10.1063/1.4745049
33.
Koh
,
S. J. A.
,
Keplinger
,
C.
,
Li
,
T.
,
Bauer
,
S.
, and
Suo
,
Z.
,
2011
, “
Dielectric Elastomer Generators: How Much Energy Can Be Converted?
,”
IEEE/ASME Trans. Mechatron.
,
16
, pp.
33
41
.10.1109/TMECH.2010.2089635
You do not currently have access to this content.