Induction of anisotropic motions in dielectric elastomer actuators by additive manufacturing

Martin S, Riethmüller J, Weigand C, Reitelshöfer S, Franke J (2022)


Publication Type: Conference contribution

Publication year: 2022

Journal

Publisher: SPIE

Book Volume: 12042

Conference Proceedings Title: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

Event location: Long Beach, CA, USA

ISBN: 9781510649590

DOI: 10.1117/12.2613071

Abstract

Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA) exhibit homogeneous driving behavior due to the incompressible material properties of the homogeneous dielectric. This causes the system to expand uniformly in-plane while decreasing its height. In many applications, however, linear actuation is required and the system must be adjusted to operate unidirectionally. For this purpose, different approaches, such as rolling or mechanical stiffening of the actuator, are presented in literature, which aim at adjusting the DEA to work in one direction. In addition, pre-stretching the elastomer film in the required direction can cause the uniaxial motion. Furthermore, there are reports of interpenetrating networks (IPN) forming an anisotropic network that behaves differently depending on the direction. However, these modifications require either external, usually rigid hardware, or additional manufacturing steps that increase the complexity of the process. In the present work, an anisotropic expansion is introduced by our additive manufacturing technique based on aerosol jet printing. By varying the material distribution and the printing of different patterns, the mechanical and electrical properties are changed, resulting in anisotropic driving behavior. In-plane motion is observed with a camera, and the relationship between longitudinal and transverse strain is evaluated using image processing. Systematic design of experiments (DoE) is used to analyze the influencing factors and determine the most promising system design and achievable aspect ratio.

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How to cite

APA:

Martin, S., Riethmüller, J., Weigand, C., Reitelshöfer, S., & Franke, J. (2022). Induction of anisotropic motions in dielectric elastomer actuators by additive manufacturing. In Iain A. Anderson, John D. W. Madden, Herbert R. Shea (Eds.), Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. Long Beach, CA, USA: SPIE.

MLA:

Martin, Sina, et al. "Induction of anisotropic motions in dielectric elastomer actuators by additive manufacturing." Proceedings of the Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) XXIV 2022, Long Beach, CA, USA Ed. Iain A. Anderson, John D. W. Madden, Herbert R. Shea, SPIE, 2022.

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