Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NON-LINEAR MECHANICS
Volume 113, Issue -, Pages 62-66Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijnonlinmec.2019.03.008
Keywords
Pull-in instability; Actuation stretch; Actuation methods; Electrical breakdown
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Funding
- Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Irish Research Council, Ireland [GOIPD/2017/1208]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [11621062]
- Shenzhen Scientific and Technological Fund for RD, China [JCYJ20170816172316775]
- Zhejiang University, China
- Irish Research Council (IRC) [GOIPD/2017/1208] Funding Source: Irish Research Council (IRC)
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Pull-in (or electro-mechanical) instability occurs when a drastic decrease in the thickness of a dielectric elastomer results in electrical breakdown, which limits the applications of dielectric devices. Here we derive the criterions for determining the pull-in instability of dielectrics actuated by different loading methods: voltage-control, charge-control, fixed pre-stress and fixed pre-stretch, by analyzing the free energy of the actuated systems. The Hessian criterion identifies a maximum in the loading curve beyond which the elastomer will stretch rapidly and lose stability, and can be seen as a path to failure. We present numerical calculations for neo-Hookean ideal dielectrics, and obtain the maximum allowable actuation stretch of a dielectric before failure by electrical breakdown. We find that applying a fixed pre-stress or a fixed pre-stretch to a charge-driven dielectric may decrease the stretchability of the elastomer, a scenario which is the opposite of what happens in the case of a voltage-driven dielectric. Results show that a reversible large actuation of a dielectric elastomer, free of the pull-in instability, can be achieved by tuning the actuation method.
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