Large Deformation Analysis of a Dielectric Elastomer Membrane

Abstract

Due to the capability of high strain, dielectric elastomers are promising for applications as transducers in cameras, robots, valves, pumps, energy harvesters and so on. This paper focuses on the large deformation analysis of a dielectric elastomer membrane.The membrane is initially flat and attached to a disk in the inner circle and to a rigid ring in the outer circle, then a weight is applied to the disk and the membrane deforms into an axisymmetric shape, undergoing large out-of-plane deformation. The membrane is assumed to behave elastically in accordance with the ogden law. The governing equations are derived by combining kinematics and thermodynamics and a set of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) are obtained finally. The ODEs are solved by using shooting method. The obtained results show that the deformation field in the membrane is very inhomogeneous.