Dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) is one of the most promising group of electroactive polymers (EAP) that can find its applications in scientific, medical, industrial and other fields. By geometrically modifying DEA structure, helical dielectric elastomer actuator (HDEA) possesses several advantages due to the continuities of its electrodes and elastomers. The actuator is well known for its competitive electro-mechanical properties and capability to deform significantly in the first place. However, some applications of EAP require relatively high actuation force along with moderate to high deformation capability for a minimum voltage applied. For this purpose, an optimization on the actuator is carried out to maximize the actuation force while keeping the deformation capability on an appropriate level for a particular application. Numerical simulation on a single HDEA actuator is performed to validate the analytical model used in the optimization and to evaluate the performance of the actuator. In both analytical and numerical analyzes, elastomer and electrode layers of HDEA are modeled using a hyperelastic model with the material suitable for 3D printing manufacturing technology. The results of the simulation and analytical solution are compared and discussed. The necessary changes to the hyperelastic model are discussed. In addition, an adaptive soft active composite (SAC) trailing edge of a wing is chosen as a target application in the optimization procedure. Thus, actuator parameters are optimized not only for the single actuator, but also for the adaptive SAC trailing edge with its own dimensional constraints, certain actuation force, deformation, and voltage requirements. The obtained designs will be used in further studies on HDEA-based SAC adaptive structures.

Date Published: 13 March 2019
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 10966, Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) XXI, 109662X (13 March 2019); doi: 10.1117/12.2514372

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 10966:
Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) XXI
Yoseph Bar-Cohen, Editor(s)