Investigation of the State Transition and Moving Boundary in a Pneumatic-Hydraulic Coupled Dielectric Elastomer Actuator
Investigation of the State Transition and Moving Boundary in a Pneumatic-Hydraulic Coupled Dielectric Elastomer Actuator
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气液耦合介电弹性体执行器的状态转变和移动边界研究
DOI：
10.1115/1.4042136
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发表时间：
2019
影响因子：
2.6
通讯作者：
Li Tiefeng
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Chen Liyuan;Chen Weijia;Xue Yaoting;Zhang Mingqi;Chen Xiangping;Cao Xunuo;Zhang Zhen;Li Guorui;Li Tiefeng
与由刚性部件制成的机器人和装置相比，由软活性材料驱动的软机器人和柔性装置具有各种优点，包括在极端环境下的高适应性和与人的兼容性。电介质弹性体（DE）膜是软驱动器中常用的材料，它可以在电压诱导的麦克斯韦应力和流体压力（气压和液压）的共同作用下实现大驱动。提出了一种机电液耦合作动器（PHCEA），该作动器具有机电作动（DE膜上的麦克斯韦应力）、气动和液压的强耦合作用。考虑到运动边界和状态转移，建立了一个计算模型来研究PHCEA的耦合行为。该模型的计算结果与实验测量结果相吻合。实验数据与理论计算结果的结合表明，状态转移和运动边界分隔了电击穿和机械损伤的潜在区域。该模型可以作为一种实用的方法来表征性能和指导软器件的设计。PHCEA的实验装置和计算方法为软机器人，自适应光学和柔性生物医疗设备的制造和表征带来了新的见解。PHCEA在水下机器人、软肌肉和微流体系统中具有广泛的应用。它可以作为软体游泳机器人的气囊、液气耦合系统的软执行器、柔性微流体系统的气液阀等。
Compared to robots and devices made of rigid components, soft robots and flexible devices driven by soft active materials possess various advantages including high adaptability under extreme environment and compatibility with a human. Dielectric elastomer (DE) membrane, which is commonly used in building soft actuators, can achieve large actuation by the combined loadings of voltage-induced Maxwell stress and fluidic pressures (pneumatic and hydraulic pressure). This paper proposes a pneumatic–hydraulic coupled electromechanical actuator (PHCEA), which exhibits strong coupling effect of electromechanical actuation (the Maxwell stress on DE membrane), pneumatic and hydraulic pressures. Considering the moving boundary and state transition, a computational model has been developed to investigate the coupling behaviors of the PHCEA. The numerical result by this model is in accordance with the experimental measurements. The combination of experimental data and the theoretical result indicates that the state transition and moving boundary separate the potential region of electrical breakdown and mechanical damage. This model can be utilized as a practical method to characterize the performance and guide the design of soft devices. The experimental setup and computational method of the PHCEA bring new insights into the fabrication and characterization of soft robots, adaptive optics, and flexible bio-medical devices. The PHCEA possesses wide applications in underwater robots, soft muscles, and microfluidics systems. It can serve as the gas bladder of soft swimming robots, the soft actuator of hydraulic–pneumatic coupling systems, and the gas–liquid valve of flexible microfluidics systems.