Self-healing High-performance dielectric elastomer actuator with novel Liquid-solid interpenetrating structure. (October 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xu, Jiahui; Dong, Yiling; Jiang, Ziyin; Tang, Longcheng; Chen, Xiangrong; Yao, Zhen; Cao, Kun
• Is Part Of: Composites. Volume 149(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-10
• Subjects: A. Material: Sandwich Structure -- Liquid-solid Interpenetrating structure -- B. Property: Self-healing -- Actuation strain; Composite materials -- Periodicals; Manufacturing processes -- Periodicals; Composite materials; Manufacturing processes; Periodicals; 620.11805
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2021.106519
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1359-835X

Abstract

Abstract: A self-healing dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) composed with sandwich structure using silicone rubber as an encapsulating thin shell layer and a piece of open-cell silicone foam filled with hydroxyl silicone oil as an interpenetrating core layer was designed and developed. The novel DEA showed an improved actuated out-of-plane displacement of 10.2 mm and an area strain of 52 % at an electric field of 22.7 kV mm −1 without pre-stretching, which was over 6 times higher than that of raw silicone rubber. Moreover, the DEA provided a blocking force of 499.1 Pa when displaced out-of-plane by 3.0 mm and was used to grasp a balloon. In addition, such actuator presented excellent self-healing ability after an electrical breakdown, which is crucial for improving reliability and lifetime of the DEA device. Therefore, the above DEA provides new understanding of the concept of high-performance actuators for promising applications in artificial muscles and soft robots.