Journal
JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT MATERIAL SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES
Volume 26, Issue 6, Pages 740-751Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
DOI: 10.1177/1045389X14563861
Keywords
Dielectric elastomer; generator; natural rubber; energy harvesting; rotary generator; four-bar mechanism
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Funding
- European Union [309139]
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Dielectric elastomers are smart materials that can be used to conceive solid-state electromechanical transducers such as actuators, sensors, and generators. Dielectric elastomer generators, in particular, are very promising for energy harvesting applications because they potentially feature large energy densities, good conversion efficiencies, good shock and corrosion resistance, and low cost. In this article, a novel concept of parallelogram-shaped dielectric elastomer generator is presented and analyzed. Parallelogram-shaped dielectric elastomer generators are rotary variable capacitance transducers, which are made by planar dielectric elastomer membranes that are covered with compliant electrodes and clamped along their perimeter to the links of a parallelogram four-bar mechanism. First, an analytical model for the electro-hyperelastic response of the parallelogram-shaped dielectric elastomer generator is described and used to assess the maximum theoretical performances of the device. Then, an experimental case study with a parallelogram-shaped dielectric elastomer generator prototype featuring a natural rubber dielectric elastomer membrane and carbon conductive grease electrodes is presented. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate the practical feasibility of the parallelogram-shaped dielectric elastomer generator concept.
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