Fiber reinforcement characteristics of anisotropic dielectric elastomers: A constitutive modeling development

Abstract

Dielectric Elastomers are special electroactive polymers capable of changing their shape under electrical stimulation. These are useful lightweight materials with tremendous potential to implement in emerging technologies like micro-robotics. One of the challenging issues regarding Dielectric Elastomers is the requirement of high electric fields. While an increase in voltage to stimulate the Dielectric Elastomers may lead to wrinkling and electric breakdown instabilities. In this research, simple, yet versatile two families of fibers reinforced Dielectric Elastomers, referred to as Anisotropic Dielectric Elastomers are introduced which require a lower electric field to stimulate. On the other hand, the fibers also help increase Dielectric Elastomer’s mechanical properties. The present study aims to get a detailed understanding of the behavior of Anisotropic Dielectric Elastomers based on an efficient constitutive formulation. Related constitutive equations including coupled anisotropic electro-mechanical aspects are derived and solved for different states. The analytical proposed model is validated with experimental results. Based on the obtained results, it could be concluded that the influence of the orientation of electro-active fibers on electro-mechanical coupling and stresses is inevitable. Therefore, to present the useful and applicable results in smart manufacturing technologies, an analytical approach is introduced.