Effect of Carbon Fiber Reinforcement on the Electromechanical Performance of Roll-Type Dielectric Elastomer Actuators
Topic for student research / diploma / master project
Effect of Carbon Fiber Reinforcement on the Electromechanical Performance of Roll-Type Dielectric Elastomer Actuators
Dielectric elastomer (DE) is a smart material that can change its shape when subjected to an electric field. DE has excellent properties such as light weight, low noise, and low cost, making it widely used in actuators, generators, and sensors. However, the mechanical isotropy of DE leads to undesirable deformation in transverse directions, reducing actuation efficiency, sensing precision, and geometric stability. Carbon fiber elastomer film (CFEF) that imparts pronounced mechanical anisotropy when laminated onto isotropic elastomers. By integrating CFEF with DE, advanced actuators can be developed, enabling enhanced actuation efficiency, precise motion control, and improved structural stability.
As part of this work, CFEF-reinforced roll-type DE actuators (R-DEA) will be fabricated based on existing production processes. Different structural designs will be developed, and the influence of CFEF with varying fiber contents on the electromechanical performance will be investigated. Subsequently, devices based on CFEF-reinforced R-DEA will be fabricated, and their performance will be experimentally evaluated.
Focus of work
- Literature review on the state of the art in the field of dielectric elastomer actuators.
- Design and fabrication of CFEF-reinforced R-DEA
- Characterization of mechanical and electromechanical performance
- Fabrication a device based on CFEF-reinforced R-DEA
- Performance testing of the devices
- Documentation and graphical presentation of the results