Design and Modeling of A Stick-Slip Type Dielectric Elastomer Motor

Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are a class of promising smart materials-based actuators, that show a sandwich structure with two compliant electrodes and an elastomer membrane. When DEAs are subjected to an input voltage, it causes an increase in area and a decrease in the thickness of the elastomer membrane. In recent years, numerous DEAs have been developed, yet they frequently encounter challenges such as low actuation speed, restricted directional motion, and limited strain capacity. Therefore, a stick-slip dielectric elastomer motor (SSDEM) is proposed with the stick-slip mechanism. In this paper, the overall structure and the actuating unit design of SSDEM are introduced in detail, and how to convert the telescopic motion of the DE membrane into stick-slip motion is explained. Then, a dynamic analysis and modeling of the SSDEM actuating unit are conducted. Depending on different motion modes, the SSDEM is classified into two operating modes: the scanning mode, which can be utilized for precision operation, and the stick-slip mode, suitable for fast actuation. Finally, a displacement measuring platform is built to test the motion performance of the SSDEM. The experimental results demonstrate the superiority of the designed SSDEM in motion performance.