Dynamic modeling with quantifying dissipated power density and experimental validation of dielectric elastomer actuators

This paper proposes a dynamic electromechanical model for dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) with dissipative processes. Dielectric loss of elastomers, resistance of electrodes, actuator geometry, elastomer viscoelasticity and nonlinear electromechanical coupling are considered, and a new visco-hyperelastic constitutive model with frequency-dependent parameters is developed for large-strain elastomers. The dynamic responses of DEAs at different driving frequencies are experimentally measured and comprehensively compared with those predicted results. The relative errors over the time period of 0–50 s at 5 and 7 Hz are respectively 3.6% and 3.4%, demonstrating the effectiveness of the model. The proposed dynamic model can not only predict the frequency response of DEAs but also characterize the creep and hysteresis behavior with reasonable accuracy. The power density dissipated during dielectric elastomer actuation is calculated and analyzed. The results suggest that selecting low-resistance electrodes and elastomers with short dielectric relaxation time and low viscous loss is a feasible way to achieve high energy conversion efficiency for DEAs. This work can be helpful for the design and control of DEAs, paving the way for their practical applications.