Optimization of the energy harvesting control for dielectric elastomer generators

Hoffstadt, Thorben; Gräf, Christian; Maas, Jürgen

doi:10.1088/0964-1726/22/9/094028

Cited by 19 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…15 As argued in the earlier studies on DEGs, the performance of the DEGs is not only limited by various failure modes such as electrical breakdown (EB) and loss of tension, but is also strongly affected by the material properties and other mechanisms such as material extensibility, material viscoelasticity, current leakage and loading congurations. 12,[15][16][17] The energy harvesting mechanism of a DEG, in fact, lies in the cyclic change of the capacitance, which is realized by stretching the DE and allowing it to recover. The larger the deformation of the DE is, the more the capacitance changes and thus a higher energy density is achieved.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, the capacitance change could also be maximized by changing the loading congura-tions as demonstrated by Huang et al 12 Particularly, it was reported by Huang et al 12 that the efficiency of the DEG is mainly limited by the viscous loss if the DEG operates in the safe range where electrical breakdown does not occur. However, most existing modeling works on the DEGs ignore the intrinsic viscoelasticity of the elastomers and only consider their hyperelastic properties, [15][16][17] which leaves many issues unsettled and may need further investigation. During the energy harvesting cycles of the DEGs, it is expected that the material viscoelasticity results in the change of the performance with the stretching and shrinking rates of the elastomer, as well as the stretch ratios.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Investigation on the performance of a viscoelastic dielectric elastomer membrane generator

2015

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Dielectric elastomer generators (DEGs), as a recent transduction technology, harvest electrical energy by scavenging mechanical energy from diverse sources. Their performance is affected by various material properties and failure modes of the dielectric elastomers. This work presents a theoretical analysis on the performance of a dielectric elastomer membrane generator under equi-biaxial loading conditions. By comparing our simulation results with the experimental observations existing in the literature, this work considers the fatigue life of DE-based devices under cyclic loading for the first time. From the simulation results, it is concluded that the efficiency of the DEG can be improved by raising the deforming rate and the prescribed maximum stretch ratio, and applying an appropriate bias voltage. However, the fatigue life expectancy compromises the efficiency improvement of the DEG. With the consideration of the fatigue life, applying an appropriate bias voltage appears to be a more desirable way to improve the DEG performance. The general framework developed in this work is expected to provide an increased understanding on the energy harvesting mechanisms of the DEGs and benefit their optimal design.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation on the performance of a viscoelastic dielectric elastomer membrane generator

2015

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“…Additionally, Hoffstadt et al [13] conducted an optimisation of the conventional EH cycles and determined the ideal charging and discharging times for maximal energy gain in the optimised scheme.…”

Section: Energy Harvesting 44mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dielectric Elastomers for Energy Harvesting

Thomson¹,

Yurchenko²,

Val

2018

Energy Harvesting

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Dielectric elastomers are a type of electroactive polymers that can be conveniently used as sensors, actuators or energy harvesters and the latter is the focus of this review. The relatively high number of publications devoted to dielectric elastomers in recent years is a direct reflection of their diversity, applicability as well as nontrivial electrical and mechanical properties. This chapter provides a review of fundamental mechanical and electrical properties of dielectric elastomers and up-to-date information regarding new developments of this technology and it's potential applications for energy harvesting from various vibration sources explored over the past decade.

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“…Both types of cycles are synthetic, since neither force nor position is constant during charging and discharging in a real energy harvesting application. In this case, the changing generator force is directly coupled with the motion of the application, which results in a true generator cycle, as, for example, depicted in Figure 8(c) obtained when operating the test bench in HIL simulation (Hoffstadt et al, 2013).…”

Section: Realization Of Generator Cyclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dielectric elastomer–based energy harvesting: Material, generator design, and optimization

Gräf

Hitzbleck

Feller

et al. 2013

Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures

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Electroactive polymers are soft capacitors made of thin elastic and electrically insulating films coated with compliant electrodes offering a large amount of deformation. They can either be used as actuators by applying an electric charge or used as energy converters based on the electrostatic principle. These unique properties enable the industrial development of highly efficient and environmentally sustainable energy converters, which opens up the possibility to further exploit large renewable and inexhaustible energy sources like wind and water that are widely unused otherwise. Compared to other electroactive polymer materials, polyurethanes have certain advantages over silicones and acrylates. Due to the inherently higher permittivity as well as the higher dielectric breakdown strength, the overall specific energy, a measure for the energy gain, is better by at least factor of 10, that is, more than 10 times the energy can be gained out of the same amount of material. In order to reduce conduction losses on the electrode during charging and discharging, a highly conductive bidirectional stretchable electrode has been developed. Other important material parameters like stiffness and bulk resistivity have been optimized to fit the requirements. We also report on different measures to evaluate and improve electroactive polymer materials for energy harvesting by, for example, reducing the defect occurrence and improving the electrode behavior.

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Optimization of the energy harvesting control for dielectric elastomer generators

Cited by 19 publications

References 13 publications

Investigation on the performance of a viscoelastic dielectric elastomer membrane generator

Investigation on the performance of a viscoelastic dielectric elastomer membrane generator

Dielectric Elastomers for Energy Harvesting

Dielectric elastomer–based energy harvesting: Material, generator design, and optimization

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