Dielectric elastomers (DE) are incompressible rubberlike solids whose electrical and structural responses are highly nonlinear and strongly coupled. Thanks to their coupled electromechanical response, intrinsic lightness, easy manufacturability, and low-cost, DEs are perfectly suited for the development of novel solid-state polymeric energy conversion units with capacitive nature and high-voltage operation, which are more resilient, lightweight, integrated, economic, and disposable than traditional generators based on conventional electromagnetic technology. Inflated circular diaphragm dielectric elastomer generators (ICD-DEG) are a special embodiment of polymeric transducer that can be used to convert pneumatic energy into usable electricity. Potential application of ICD-DEG is as power take-off system for wave energy converters (WEC) based on the oscillating water column (OWC) principle. This paper presents a reduced, yet accurate, dynamic model for ICD-DEG that features one kinematic degree of freedom and which accounts for DE visco-elasticity. The model is computationally simple and can be easily integrated into existing wave-to-wire models of OWCs to be used for fast analysis and real-time applications. For demonstration purposes, integration of the considered ICD-DEG model with a lumped-parameter hydrodynamic model of a realistic OWC is also presented along with a simulation case study.
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February 2015
Research-Article
Reduced Model and Application of Inflating Circular Diaphragm Dielectric Elastomer Generators for Wave Energy Harvesting
Rocco Vertechy,
Rocco Vertechy
1
PERCRO SEES,
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna,
e-mail: r.vertechy@sssup.it
TeCIP Institute
,Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna,
Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33
,Pisa 5612
, Italy
e-mail: r.vertechy@sssup.it
1Corresponding author.
Search for other works by this author on:
Gastone Pietro Papini Rosati,
Gastone Pietro Papini Rosati
PERCRO SEES,
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna,
e-mail: g.rosatipapini@sssup.it
TeCIP Institute
,Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna,
Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33
,Pisa 5612
, Italy
e-mail: g.rosatipapini@sssup.it
Search for other works by this author on:
Marco Fontana
Marco Fontana
PERCRO SEES,
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna,
e-mail: m.fontana@sssup.it
TeCIP Institute
,Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna,
Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33
,Pisa 5612
, Italy
e-mail: m.fontana@sssup.it
Search for other works by this author on:
Rocco Vertechy
PERCRO SEES,
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna,
e-mail: r.vertechy@sssup.it
TeCIP Institute
,Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna,
Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33
,Pisa 5612
, Italy
e-mail: r.vertechy@sssup.it
Gastone Pietro Papini Rosati
PERCRO SEES,
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna,
e-mail: g.rosatipapini@sssup.it
TeCIP Institute
,Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna,
Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33
,Pisa 5612
, Italy
e-mail: g.rosatipapini@sssup.it
Marco Fontana
PERCRO SEES,
Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna,
e-mail: m.fontana@sssup.it
TeCIP Institute
,Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna,
Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33
,Pisa 5612
, Italy
e-mail: m.fontana@sssup.it
1Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Technical Committee on Vibration and Sound of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF VIBRATION AND ACOUSTICS. Manuscript received April 14, 2014; final manuscript received September 3, 2014; published online November 12, 2014. Assoc. Editor: Ryan L Harne.
J. Vib. Acoust. Feb 2015, 137(1): 011004 (9 pages)
Published Online: February 1, 2015
Article history
Received:
April 14, 2014
Revision Received:
September 3, 2014
Online:
November 12, 2014
Citation
Vertechy, R., Papini Rosati, G. P., and Fontana, M. (February 1, 2015). "Reduced Model and Application of Inflating Circular Diaphragm Dielectric Elastomer Generators for Wave Energy Harvesting." ASME. J. Vib. Acoust. February 2015; 137(1): 011004. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4028508
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