Host: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Name : [in Japanese]
Date : September 13, 2020 - September 16, 2020
The dielectric elastomer generators (DEGs) have the characteristics of high energy density. However, the performance of DEGs is affected by dissipative loss, such as viscoelasticity and current leakage. In this paper, the effect of dissipative loss on the performance of DEGs was investigated by conducting experiments and using the model of dissipative dielectric elastomers. The energy conversion efficiency of DEGs (VHB 4905) was experimentally measured with various stretching rates and maximum stretch ratios. It was shown that both the low stretching rate and large maximum stretch ratio result in remarkable current leakage, and the excessive current leakage even leads to negative efficiency. When the maximum stretch ratio was 5.0 and the stretch rate was reduced from 5.0 s-1 to 1.5 s-1, the mechanical to electrical energy conversion efficiency decreased from 11 % to 5%. Both the carbon grease and carbon nanotubes were utilized as compliant electrodes under the same testing conditions. The trade-offs between large power output and poor conversion efficiency were discussed.
