The strain response of silicone dielectric elastomer actuators

Guomao Yang; Guozhi Yao; Wei Ren; Georges Akhras; Jeff P. Szabo; Binu K. Mukherjee

doi:10.1117/12.598160

6 May 2005 The strain response of silicone dielectric elastomer actuators

Guomao Yang, Guozhi Yao, Wei Ren, Georges Akhras, Jeff P. Szabo, Binu K. Mukherjee

Proceedings Volume 5759, Smart Structures and Materials 2005: Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD); (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.598160
Event: SPIE Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, 2005, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Dielectric elastomers are known to produce large transverse strains in response to electrically induced Maxwell stresses and thus provide a useful form of electromechanical actuation. The transverse strain response of silicone (Dow Corning HS III RTV) based Maxwell stress actuators have been measured earlier as a function of driving electric field, frequency and pre-load. Experimental results show that a pre-load initially causes an increase in the strain. However, this increase appears to be a function of the relative geometries of the electroded area and of the specimen itself. The transverse strains in these materials decrease when larger values of pre-load are applied. Models of hyperelasticity that are capable of describing the large deformation of polymer materials have been used to interpret our results. Numerical finite element simulations of the material’s behavior using a hyperelastic model provides good agreement with most of our observations on the electric field and pre-strain dependencies of the transverse strain.

Citation Download Citation

Guomao Yang, Guozhi Yao, Wei Ren, Georges Akhras, Jeff P. Szabo, and Binu K. Mukherjee "The strain response of silicone dielectric elastomer actuators", Proc. SPIE 5759, Smart Structures and Materials 2005: Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD), (6 May 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.598160

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