Abstract
We report on the frequency dependent behavior of dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA). The introduced smart material actuators consist of 3M™’s elastomer VHB™4905 (9469) and a compliant, sputtered copper electrode on each side. The presented experiments on these compounds contain the active tuning of their resonance frequency and their application as acoustic actuators. We are able to decrease the membranes’ eigenfrequency by 30% with an electrical offset potential. Alternatively, if an alternating signal is applied, sound pressure levels up to 130 dB in an enclosed volume of 28 ccm are achieved. In order to verify the results, a numerical simulation is introduced incorporating the two physical fields involved: electrical and mechanical.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
W. Heywang, K. Lubitz, W. Wersing, Piezoelectricity: Evolution and Future of a Technology, Springer Series in Materials Science (Springer, Berlin, 2008)
T.S. Albach, P. Horn, A. Sutor, R. Lerch, Sound Generation Using a Magnetostrictive Microactuator. J. Appl. Phys. 109(7), 3 (2011)
F. Wolf, A. Sutor, S.J. Rupitsch, R. Lerch, Modeling and measurement of creep- and rate-dependent hysteresis in ferroelectric actuators. Sens. Actuators A, Phys. 172(1), 245–252 (2011)
G.M. Sessler, M.G. Broadhurst, R. Gerhard-Multhaupt, Electrets, vol. 1, Laplacian Press Series on Electrostatics (Laplacian Press, Morgan Hill, 2000)
S. Bauer, R. Gerhard-Multhaupt, G.M. Sessler, Ferroelectrets: Soft Electroactive Foams for Transducers, Physics Today (2004)
S.J. Rupitsch, R. Lerch, J. Strobel, A. Streicher, Ultrasound transducers based on ferroelectret materials. IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul. 18(1), 69–80 (2011)
G.C. Montanari, D. Fabiani, F. Ciani, A. Motori, M. Paajanen, R. Gerhard-Multhaupt, M. Wegener, Charging properties and time-temperature stability of innovative polymeric cellular ferroelectrets. IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul. 14(1), 238–248 (2007)
M. Wissler, E. Mazza, Electromechanical coupling in dielectric elastomer actuators. Sens. Actuators A, Phys. 138(2), 384–393 (2007)
R. Kornbluh, R. Pelrine, Q. Pei, Dielectric elastomer produces strain of 380% (2000). http://ndeaa.jpl.nasa.gov/nasa-nde/newsltr/WW-EAP_Newsletter2-2.pdf, p. 10
G. Kofod, Dielectric elastomer actuators. Ph.D. thesis, Technical University of Denmark (2001)
W.C. Röntgen, Ueber die durch Electricität bewirkten Form- und Volumenänderungen von dielectrischen Körpern. Ann. Phys. Chem. 11, 771–786 (1880)
M. Zhenyi, J.I. Scheinbeim, J.W. Lee, B.A. Newman, High field electrostrictive response of polymers. J. Polym. Sci., Part B, Polym. Phys. 32(16), 2721–2731 (1994)
C. Keplinger, T. Li, R. Baumgartner, Z. Suo, S. Bauer, Harnessing snap-through instability in soft dielectrics to achieve giant voltage-triggered deformation. Soft Matter 8, 285–288 (2012)
K.J. Kim, S. Tadokoro, Electroactive Polymers for Robotic Applications (Springer, London, 2007)
R. Pei, Q. Pelrine, R. Kornbluh, J. Joseph, High-speed electrically actuated elastomers with strain greater than 100. Science 287, 836–839 (2000)
M. Matysek, Dielektrische Elastomeraktoren in Multilayer-Technologie für taktile Displays. Ph.D. thesis, Technische Universität Darmstadt (2009)
M. Molberg, Y. Leterrier, C.J.G. Plummer, C. Walder, C. Löwe, D.M. Opris, F.A. Nüesch, S. Bauer, J.E. Mnson, Frequency dependent dielectric and mechanical behavior of elastomers for actuator applications. Journal of Applied Physics 106(5), 2009
R. Joseph, J. Eckerle, J. Kornbluh, R. Heydt, R. Pelrine, Acoustical performance of an electrostrictive polymer film loudspeaker. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 107, 833–839 (2000)
J. Eckerle, R. Pelrine, R. Heydt, J. Kornbluh, Sound radiation properties of dielectric elastomer electroactive polymer loudspeakers, in Proceedings of SPIE 6168 (2006), p. 61681M
S. Niklaus, M. Dadras, M. Shea, H. Dubois, P. Rosset, Voltage control of the resonance frequency of dielectric electroactive polymer (deap) membranes. J. Microelectromech. 1072–1081 (2008)
G. Kofod, P. Sommer-Larsen, R. Kornbluh, R. Pelrine, Actuation response of polyacrylate dielectric elastomers. J. Intell. Mater. Syst. Struct. 14(12), 787–793 (2003)
W. Ma, L.E. Cross, An experimental investigation of electromechanical response in a dielectric acrylic elastomer. Appl. Phys. A, Mater. Sci. Process. 78(8), 1201–1204 (2004)
C. Jean-Mistral, A. Sylvestre, S. Basrour, J.-J. Chaillout, Dielectric properties of polyacrylate thick films used in sensors and actuators. Smart Mater. Struct. 19(7), 075019 (2010)
D.M. Mattox, The Foundations of Vacuum Coating Technology (William Andrew Pub., 2003)
F. Ziegler, Mechanics of Solids and Fluids, 2nd edn. (Springer, New York, 1998)
D. Elata, V. Leus, A. Hirshberg, O. Salomon, M. Naftali, A novel tilting micromirror with a triangular waveform resonance response and an adjustable resonance frequency for raster scanning applications, in Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems Conference, 2007, TRANSDUCERS 2007, International, pp. 1509–1512, June 2007
P. Areias, K. Matouš, Finite element formulation for modeling nonlinear viscoelastic elastomers. Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng. 197(51–52), 4702–4717 (2008)
D.K. Vu, P. Steinmann, G. Possart, Numerical modelling of non-linear electroelasticity. Int. J. Numer. Methods Eng. 70(6), 685–704 (2007)
D.K. Vu, P. Steinmann, A 2-D coupled BEM-FEM simulation of electro-elastostatics at large strain. Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng. 199(17–20), 1124–1133 (2010)
X. Zhao, Z. Suo, Method to analyze programmable deformation of dielectric elastomer layers. Appl. Phys. Lett. 93(25), 25190 (2008)
B. Brien, T. McKay, E. Calius, S. Xie, I.A. Anderson, Finite element modelling of dielectric elastomer minimum energy structures. Appl. Phys. A, Mater. Sci. Process. 94, 507–514 (2009)
R.W. Ogden, Large deformation isotropic elasticity—on the correlation of theory and experiment for incompressile rubberlike solids, in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A (1972)
M. Kaltenbacher, Numerical Simulation of Mechatronic Sensors and Actuators (Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2007)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hochradel, K., Rupitsch, S.J., Sutor, A. et al. Dynamic performance of dielectric elastomers utilized as acoustic actuators. Appl. Phys. A 107, 531–538 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-012-6837-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-012-6837-2