Abstract
Dielectric Electro Active Polymers (DEAP) have the potential of converting mechanical energy into electrical energy. DEAP consists of a silicone dielectric film material with a special corrugated surface and a very thin layer of metallic electrodes on both sides of the surface allowing for large mechanical deformations with low operating forces. This work examined how the DEAP capacitance and the electrode resistance were affected by repeated stress relaxation cycles.
Three samples of 25% strain DEAP provided by Danfoss Polymer were subjected to 3000 stress relaxation cycles. Sample one was stressed at 4%, another to 10% and the last was stressed to 20%. Measurements were taken in 500 stress cycle intervals. The capacitance of each sample and the resistance of one electrode layer were measured in both the relaxed position and the stressed position once per interval.
The 4% stress sample’s capacitance did not indicate any changes up to 3000 stress cycles, but the resistance of the electrode layer had increased uniformly by about 2% by 3000 stress cycles. The 10% stress sample’s capacitance and resistance had increase 6% and 4% respectively at 3000 stress cycles. The increase appears to have a slight jump between 1000 and 1500 stress cycles, but seems uniform otherwise.
Overall, there was a small increase in the capacitance of the DEAP material after the 3000 stress cycles but the capacitance reading was never above 2nF.
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© 2013 TMS (The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society)
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Ng, B.C., Lovhoiden, G., Magbanua, J. (2013). Evaluation of the Electrical Resistance and Capacitance of a Di-Electric Electro-Active Polymer. In: Marquis, F. (eds) Proceedings of the 8th Pacific Rim International Congress on Advanced Materials and Processing. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48764-9_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48764-9_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
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