Datwyler link-up to launch dielectric elastomer actuators

Altdorf, Switzerland – Datwyler Group has linked up with materials supplier Momentive and German computer company BSC Computer to develop dielectric elastomer-based industrial actuators.

Until now, said Swiss engineering group Datwyler, the technology based on electroactive polymers (EAP) was primarily “known only in the research environment.”

The collaboration between the three industrial partners "will provide an avenue to transfer the technology into serial production in 2024”, added the group's 5 March release.

Working with key customers, the trio have paved the way to integrate EAP technology into applications, such as energy-efficient, robust, and sustainable linear actuators.

As part of the roll-out, the partners presented a development kit for dielectric elastomer actuators for the first time at CES 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada, in January.

The base EAP material was developed and is now being produced at Momentive’s site in Leverkusen, Germany.

Manufacture of the DEA stacks, based at Datwyler's Schattdorf, Switzerland unit, is slated to ramp up by mid-2024 on an automated “in-house developed production line.

Meanwhile, Allendorf, Germany-based BSC Computer is manufacturing the electronic control units that ‘optimally supply the actuators with the necessary high voltage’.

The control units are also designed to provide an “easy-to-integrate digital interface” between the linear actuator and the application.

In addition, BSC Computer is supporting end-users with mechatronic integration of the EAP actuators for market applications.

Explaining the technology, Datwyler said the solution digitises EAP technology, using data obtained via the control unit and through IoT networking of products.

“This facilitates continuous and sustainable optimisation of end products – from the base material to the stacks and the end customer application,” Datwyler stated.

Advantages, it noted, include: low energy consumption, reduced mechanical parts, lower component weight and volume, robust design, silent and controlled actuation operation.

The collaboration will help Datwyler industrialise “elastomer-based sealing solutions”, commented Dr. Anette Wiesmath, head of the EAP unit at Datwyler.

For Holger Albrecht, VP head of the elastomers division at Momentive, the collaboration is providing insights into the use of dielectric elastomers in end-customer applications.

“In the medium term, networking EAPs with the IoT can be the cornerstone for the digitalisation of our business models,” Albrecht commented.

The partnership is “closing the gap between basic EAP technology and real applications”, said Joerg Hofmann, managing partner of BSC Computer GmbH.

Customers, suggested Hofmann, could include OEMs in the industrial, automotive and medical industries.