DEVELOPMENT AND ANALYSIS OF DIELECTRIC ELASTOMER ACTUATORS

Abstract

Electromechanical actuation of dielectric erlastomer actuators (DEA) is limited by electromechanical instability (EMI). We analyse and show that prestretch allows us to achieve giant continuously-tunable actuation. We demonstrate experimentally, that a maximum possible linear actuation strain of 500% is achievable for a VHB DEA. The design is adapted for implementation in tubular DEA for its modularity and robustness compared to a flat sheet DEA. A biomimetic arm prototype design is demonstrated by coupling 2 tubular DEA to form an antagonistic design which eliminates the need for preload.