A Review of Hyperelastic Constitutive Models for Dielectric Elastomers

Abstract

AbstractDielectric elastomers are smart materials that are essential components in soft systems and structures. The core element of a dielectric elastomer is soft matter, which is mainly rubber-like and elastomeric. These soft materials show a nonlinear behaviour and have a nonlinear strain–stress curve. The best candidates for modelling the nonlinear behaviour of such materials are hyperelastic strain energy functions. Hyperelastic functions have been extensively used for modelling dielectric elastomer smart structures. This review paper introduces hyperelastic constitutive laws for modelling dielectric elastomers. For this purpose, first, a general scheme of hyperelastic models is expressed. Then, some well-known hyperelastic models are introduced. Finally, we review in detail the utilized hyperelastic models for different configurations of dielectric elastomers. Possible future works in this field are outlined eventually.KeywordsDielectric elastomersHyperelastic modelsNonlinear elasticitySmart polymers