Design and fabrication of twisted monolithic dielectric elastomer actuator

This paper presents a novel design of dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA), called single body dielectric elastomer actuator (SDEA), to improve the performance of existing DEAs. The DEA is typically configured with stacking multiple dielectric elastomer film and linearly contracted according to the applied voltage. SDEA is fabricated monolithically without external frame and has the advantages of flexibility and light weight. Thus, it is applicable to various configurations of actuators such as twisting or bending, etc. By exploiting the advantages of SDEA, we propose a new 2-ply design of SDEA. The design is configured with plying couples of monolithically fabricated SDEA. We explain how it can amplify the stroke with its basic principles of operations. In addition, its fabrication method is addressed. Finally, the results of performance evaluations are included with respect to stroke, force, speed, etc.