Viscoelastic analysis of a spring-connected dielectric elastomer actuator undergoing large inhomogeneous deformation

Abstract

A viscoelastic model is developed for a conical dielectric elastomer actuator (CDEA) connected by a spring. The CDEA is composed of a dissipative dielectric elastomer membrane, a rigid disk and a spring. The CDEA undergoes large out-of-plane inhomogeneous deformation by applying the electro-mechanical loadings. The nonlinear spring-dashpot model is employed to model the viscoelastic behavior of the membrane. A differential-algebraic system of equations is derived and the solving technique is developed. Both the creep behaviors under the constant instantaneous electro-mechanical loadings and the cyclic performance under the cyclic mechanical and electrical loadings are presented. The time-dependent behaviors of the CDEA can be tuned by changing the stiffness of the spring, the pre-stretch of the membrane as well as the loading rate and the loading type.