A dielectric elastomer transducer is a deformable capacitor, and is under development as a sensor, actuator, or generator. Among various geometric configurations, laterallyconstrained transducer, also known as pure-shear transducer, is easy to implement and effective to couple mechanical force and electrical voltage. This analytical study reveals that lateral pre-stretch enhances actuation, far...

A novel approach for nanoscale imaging and characterization of the orientation dependence of electromechanical properties-vector piezoresponse force microscopy (Vector PFM)-is described. The relationship between local electromechanical response, polarization, piezoelectric constants, and crystallographic orientation is analyzed in detail. The image formation mechanism in vector PFM is discussed...

The future More Electric Aircraft (MEA) technology focus on increasing the use of electrical equipment to a larger extent, e.g. replacing conventional hydraulic and pneumatic actuators with electromechanical or electro hydrostatic actuators to reduce weight, cost and maintenance. Advances in enabling technologies of electric power generation, distribution, and utility equipment have made the us...

This paper discusses a state space estimation for an electromechanical actuator valve using extended Kalman filter (EKF). A proposed actuator model includes a Tustin’s friction model with strong nonlinearities, hence it represents an accurate model for describing the friction phenomenon in an electromechanical actuator valve. At first the state equations of the model were converted into a time-...

Lipid membranes are insulators and capacitors, which can be charged by an external electric field. This phenomenon plays an important role in the field of electrophysiology, for instance when describing nerve pulse conduction. Membranes are also made of polar molecules meaning that they contain molecules with permanent electrical dipole moments. Therefore, the properties of membranes are subjec...

Ionic actuators have attracted attention due to their remarkably large strain under low-voltage stimulation. Because actuation performance is mainly dominated by the electrochemical and electromechanical processes of the electrode layer, the electrode material and structure are crucial. Here, we report a graphitic carbon nitride nanosheet electrode-based ionic actuator that displays high electr...

Nanoelectromechanical systems constitute a class of devices lying at the interface between fundamental research and technological applications. Realizing nanoelectromechanical devices based on novel materials such as graphene allows studying their mechanical and electromechanical characteristics at the nanoscale and addressing fundamental questions such as electron-phonon interaction and bandga...

An approach for combined imaging of elastic and electromechanical properties of materials, referred to as piezoacoustic scanning probe microscopy PA-SPM , is presented. Applicability of this technique for elastic and electromechanical imaging with nanoscale resolution in such dissimilar materials as ferroelectrics and biological tissues is demonstrated. The PA-SPM signal formation is analyzed b...

Designing "ideal electrodes" that simultaneously guarantee low mechanical damping and electrical loss as well as high electromechanical coupling in ultralow-volume piezoelectric nanomechanical structures can be considered to be a key challenge in the NEMS field. We show that mechanically transferred graphene, floating at van der Waals proximity, closely mimics "ideal electrodes" for ultrahigh f...