A new electrostatic actuator providing improved stroke length and force

Branebjerg, Jens; Gravesen, Peter

doi:10.1109/memsys.1992.187682

Cited by 43 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…As presented in our previous work [10,11] , DEA zipping actuators are a variant of the traditional DEA operation mode inspired by silicon MEMS zipping devices [12] . Instead of having two compliant electrodes that squeeze the elastomer and produce a thickness compression and lateral expansion [1] , zipping DEAs attract one single compliant electrode toward a rigid one.…”

Section: Zipping Dielectric Elastomer Actuatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mm-size bistable zipping dielectric elastomer actuators for integrated microfluidics

2013

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We report on a new structure of Dielectric Elastomer Actuators (DEAs) called zipping DEAs, which have a set of unique characteristics that are a good match for the requirements of electrically-powered integrated microfluidic pumping and/or valving units as well as Braille displays. The zipping DEAs operate by pulling electrostatically an elastomer membrane in contact with the rigid sidewalls of a sloped chamber. In this work, we report on fully functional mm-size zipping DEAs that demonstrate a complete sealing of the chamber sidewalls and a tunable bistable behavior, and compare the measurements with an analytical model. Compared to our first generation of devices, we are able vary the sidewall angle and benefit therefore from more flexibility to study the requirements to make fully functional actuators. In particular, we show that with Nusil CF19 as membrane material (1.2 MPa Young's modulus), it is possible to zip completely 2.3 mm diameter chambers with 15° and 21° sidewalls angle equibiaxially prestretched to λ 0 =1.12 and 15° chambers with λ 0 =1.27.

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Section: Zipping Dielectric Elastomer Actuatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mm-size bistable zipping dielectric elastomer actuators for integrated microfluidics

2013

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“…In addition to their use in MEMS, zipping actuators have also been proposed for macroscopic applications, especially for membrane pumps [9][10][11][12] . The membranes used in such pumps are typically made of metal or similarly rigid materials.…”

Section: Elastomer Zipping Actuatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zipping it up: DEAs independent of the elastomer's electric breakdown field

Gebbers

Grätzel²,

Maffli

et al. 2012

SPIE Proceedings

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We demonstrate here an alternative dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) structure, which relies on the compliant nature of elastomer membranes but does not require any electric field in the elastomer. Our elastomer zipping device is a macroscopic version of the electrostatic zipping actuators common in silicon MEMS. It consists of a cm-sized metallic bottom electrode, covered by a thin insulator, on which the elastomer membrane is bonded, enclosing a tapered air gap. A compliant electrode is patterned on the lower face of the elastomer membrane. Applying a voltage between solid bottom electrode and compliant electrode leads to controlled pull-in in movement, comparable to the closing of a zipper, thus giving large strokes and forces with no electrical requirements on the elastomer since no voltage is applied across the membrane. The compliant electrodes (20 mm diameter) are produced by metal ion-implantation into the elastomer membranes. The bottom metal electrodes are coated with 10 to 30 µm of Al 2 O 3 . We report on our experimental study of membrane deflection and dynamics and discuss the effect of design parameters such as elastomer mechanical properties and actuator geometry. Membrane deflection of up to 1.4 mm was reached at only 200 V actuation voltage. The large membrane deformation achieved with this zipping actuation can be applied to applications such as pumps or tunable liquid lenses. The out-of plane movement of the membrane can be used for linear actuation.

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“…The bend travels back and forth to actuate the valve when opposite charges are applied between the film and each of the electrodes. Also, improved stroke length and force have been reported in an actuator of a deformed silicon membrane, which is pulled electrostatically against a glass plate [4]. A somewhat similar concept has been studied in microvalves fabricated on silicon by means of combined surface and bulk micromachining process [5]- [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

A novel bulk micromachined electrostatic microvalve with a curved-compliant structure applicable for a pneumatic tactile display

Yobaş

Huff

Lisy

et al. 2001

J. Microelectromech. Syst.

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Recent success of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) in projection displays have raised similar expectation for an efficient, low power, affordable, full-page and pneumatic tactile display. Such design has not been achieved by the conventional technology but could bring significant improvement to current refreshable Braille displays. This paper demonstrates a novel bulk-micromachined electrostatic microvalve suitable for a pneumatic tactile display. The microvalve, a silicon perforated diaphragm juxtaposed to a silicon inlet orifice, requires relatively low closing voltage against a large supply differential pressure and flow rate, i.e., 72.9 V-rms for 19.3 kPa and 86 mL/min. Such an attractive characteristic is due to its unique curved-compliant structure that has, unlike other electrostatic microvalves, no tolerance for any initial air gap between its electrodes. As a design tool, a mechanical model of the microvalve is introduced based on the lubrication theory and large plate deflection theory. The model is established on a steady-state coupled field problem of a fluid-solid mechanics. Reynolds and von-Karman equations were simultaneously solved for the microvalve geometry by finite difference approximation and double Fourier series expansion. The results of the model and experiments are compared and found to be in good agreement with a relative error less than 10%. [557]

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A new electrostatic actuator providing improved stroke length and force

Cited by 43 publications

References 1 publication

Mm-size bistable zipping dielectric elastomer actuators for integrated microfluidics

Mm-size bistable zipping dielectric elastomer actuators for integrated microfluidics

Zipping it up: DEAs independent of the elastomer's electric breakdown field

A novel bulk micromachined electrostatic microvalve with a curved-compliant structure applicable for a pneumatic tactile display

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