Abstract

Dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) is a key element for the soft robots, which has received increasing attention. However, the main difficulties in modeling soft actuators such as dielectric elastomer actuators are time-dependent viscoelasticity and their material nonlinearity. It is important
to consider the viscoelasticity of the dielectric elastomer (DE) to fully understand its mechanical behavior. However, so far only a few works have been presented considering the viscoelasticity of the DE material together with the effect of temperature and deformation.
In this thesis, a dynamic electromechanical-coupled model for a rectangle dielectric elastomer a commonly used material (the acrylic elastomer VHB 4910) has been proposed, with taking into consideration of the influence of temperature, voltage, and frequency on the DE. The proposed model is based on the free energy physical-based principle, where the general Kelvin-Voigt model is applied
to describe the viscoelasticity of the DE, and the Maxwell force together with the Electrostrictive force are considered. The influence of temperature and deformation on the DE is included in this model. The model in this study is a dynamic electromechanical model of a DE actuator, and can
effectively describe the dynamic characteristics of the DE.
By using the Differential Evolution, the model parameters were identified. The model was implemented and simulated in MATLAB, and the simulation and the actual experiment agrees to a great extent. The experimental test conducted in this study matches with the simulations results, which means that the proposed model can be practical to predict and describe DEAs electromechanical and viscoelastic behavior. Predicting the electromechanical and viscoelastic behavior of the DE is extremely useful for controlling a viscoelastic DEA and paving the way to improve the control performance, and also develops applications in soft robotics.