Experimental comparison of bias elements for out-of-plane DEAP actuator system

This paper presents an experimental comparison of three different biasing elements utilized to produce out-of-plane actuation for a diaphragm dielectric electro-active polymer (DEAP). A hanging mass, a linear coil spring, and a nonlinear (bistable) mechanism are individually paired with an unloaded DEAP actuator. High voltage (2.5 kV) is applied to the DEAP and the out-of-plane stroke of the DEAP is measured. The actuator stroke is notably different for each bias element. Results show that as the bias element stiffness increases, the actuator stroke decreases. However, the bistable element, when coupled with the DEAP, demonstrated improved actuation in a specific range of DEAP pre-deflection. Not only was the stroke larger for this case, the stroke also did not attenuate at higher voltage frequencies as much as the linear coil spring bias elements. This study demonstrates a promising method for obtaining high performance DEAP actuators in the future.