Study of Undesired Floating Electrode Discharges Induced on an Electro-Adhesion Actuator

During metal/polymer particle mixture sorting using an electro-adhesion actuator, undesired surface discharges can be observed near the edges of the metallic particles, especially at high voltages and frequencies. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the characteristics of these discharges as well as the consequences on the electro-adhesion process. The analysis is based on electrical and optical diagnostics of the discharges to understand their physical origin and the conditions of their development. Two actuator configurations have been used in this work: wire-to-plane and multistrand-to-comb configurations. Experimental results indicate the presence of two discharges during both cycles of an AC square voltage. Also, the power consumption increases with applied voltage and frequency. Furthermore, the gain in the adhesion rate of copper particles at high voltage and frequency requires very high-power consumption, but above all, it is unnecessary for the overall operation of the electro-adhesion installation.