Rolled dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA), which are prepared by rolling up a flat dielectric elastomer , are subjected to non-homogenous deformation and thus does not perform as well as the flat ones. Typically, the rolled ones reported actuation of not more than 37.3% axial strain; whereas the flat one undergoing pure-shear deformation reported much greater actuation . This study shows that oil encapsulation helps the rolled DEA suppress pre-mature breakdown. Under isotonic test, oil-encapsulated tubular DEAs sustain very high electric field of up to 712.0 MV/m, which is 50% higher than that of the dry DEAs. Hence, it can produce up to 50% axial strain while deforming the passive oil capsules. In addition, it produces an isometric stress up to nearly 0.6 MPa, 114% higher than that of the dry one.

Date Published: 1 April 2015
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 9430, Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2015, 94300M (1 April 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2084531

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9430:
Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2015
Yoseph Bar-Cohen, Editor(s)