Lifetime of dielectric elastomer stack actuators

Peter Lotz; Marc Matysek; Helmut F. Schlaak

doi:10.1117/12.878954

28 March 2011 Lifetime of dielectric elastomer stack actuators

Peter Lotz, Marc Matysek, Helmut F. Schlaak

Proceedings Volume 7976, Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2011; 79760P (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.878954
Event: SPIE Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, 2011, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Dielectric elastomer stack actuators (DESA) are well suited for the use in mobile devices, fluidic applications and small electromechanical systems. Despite many improvements during the last years the long term behavior of dielectric elastomer actuators in general is not known or has not been published. The first goal of the study is to characterize the overall lifetime under laboratory conditions and to identify potential factors influencing lifetime. For this we have designed a test setup to examine 16 actuators at once. The actuators are subdivided into 4 groups each with a separate power supply and driving signal. To monitor the performance of the actuators driving voltage and current are measured continuously and additionally, the amplitude of the deformations of each actuator is measured sequentially. From our first results we conclude that lifetime of these actuators is mainly influenced by the contact material between feeding line and multilayer electrodes. So far, actuators themselves are not affected by long term actuation. With the best contact material actuators can be driven for more than 2700 h at 200 Hz with an electrical field strength of 20 V/μm. This results in more than 3 billion cycles. Actually, there are further actuators driven at 10 Hz for more than 4000 hours and still working.

Citation Download Citation

Peter Lotz, Marc Matysek, and Helmut F. Schlaak "Lifetime of dielectric elastomer stack actuators", Proc. SPIE 7976, Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2011, 79760P (28 March 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.878954

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available