A membrane of a dielectric elastomer oscillates when subject to AC voltage. Its oscillation is nonlinear due to large deformation and nonlinear electromechanical coupling. Dynamic instability in dielectric elastomers—the oscillation with an unbounded amplitude—is investigated in this paper. The critical amplitude of AC voltage for dynamic instability varies with the frequency of AC voltage and reaches a valley when the superharmonic, harmonic, or subharmonic resonance is excited. Prestretches can improve dielectric elastomer actuators' capabilities to resist dynamic instability. The critical deformation at the onset of dynamic instability can be much larger than that at the onset of static instability. Oscillation of dielectric elastomers can be used for applications, such as vibration shakers for haptic feedback, soft loudspeakers, soft motors, and soft pumps. We hope that the current analyses can improve the understanding of dynamic behavior of dielectric elastomers and enhance their stability and reliability.
Issue Section:
Research Papers
References
1.
Pelrine
, R.
, Kornbluh
, R.
, Pei
, Q.
, and Joseph
, J.
, 2000
, “High-Speed Electrically Actuated Elastomers With Strain Greater Than 100%
,” Science
, 287
(5454
), pp. 836
–839
.10.1126/science.287.5454.8362.
Ashley
, S.
, 2003
, “Artificial Muscles
,” Sci. Am.
, 289
(4
), pp. 52
–59
.10.1038/scientificamerican1003-523.
Carpi
, F.
, Bauer
, S.
, and De Rossi
, D.
, 2010
, “Stretching Dielectric Elastomer Performance
,” Science
, 330
(6012
), pp. 1759
–1761
.10.1126/science.11947734.
Fox
, J. W.
, and Goulbourne
, N. C.
, 2008
, “On the Dynamic Electromechanical Loading of Dielectric Elastomer Membranes
,” J. Mech. Phys. Solids
, 56
(8
), pp. 2669
–2686
.10.1016/j.jmps.2008.03.0075.
Zhu
, J.
, Cai
, S.
, and Suo
, Z.
, 2010
, “Resonant Behavior of a Membrane of a Dielectric Elastomer
,” Int. J. Solids Struct.
, 47
(24
), pp. 3254
–3262
.10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2010.08.0086.
Biggs
, S.
, and Hitchcock
, R.
, 2010
, “Artificial Muscle Actuators for Haptic Displays: System Design to Match the Dynamics and Tactile Sensitivity of the Human Fingerpad
,” Proc. SPIE
, 7642
, p. 76420I
.10.1117/12.8477417.
Keplinger
, C.
, Sun
, J. Y.
, Foo
, C. C.
, Rothemund
, P.
, Whitesides
, G. M.
, and Suo
, Z.
, 2013
, “Stretchable, Transparent, Ionic Conductors
,” Science
, 341
(6149
), pp. 984
–987
.10.1126/science.12402288.
Anderson
, I. A.
, Tse
, T. C. H.
, Inamura
, T.
, O'Brien
, B. M.
, McKay
, T.
, and Gisby
, T.
, 2011
, “A Soft and Dexterous Motor
,” Appl. Phys. Lett.
, 98
(12
), p. 123704
.10.1063/1.35651959.
Gupta
, U.
, Godaba
, H.
, Zhao
, Z. J.
, Chui
, C. K.
, and Zhu
, J.
, 2015
, “Tunable Force/Displacement of a Vibration Shaker Driven by a Dielectric Elastomer Actuator
,” Extreme Mech. Lett.
(in press).10.1016/j.eml.2015.02.00410.
Zhao
, X.
, and Suo
, Z.
, 2007
, “Method to Analyze Electromechanical Stability of Dielectric Elastomers
,” Appl. Phys. Lett.
, 91
(6
), p. 061921
.10.1063/1.276864111.
Zhao
, X. H.
, Hong
, W.
, and Suo
, Z. G.
, 2007
, “Electromechanical Coexistent States and Hysteresis in Dielectric Elastomers
,” Phys. Rev. B
, 76
(13
), p. 134113
.10.1103/PhysRevB.76.13411312.
Zhao
, X. H.
, and Suo
, Z. G.
, 2010
, “Theory of Dielectric Elastomers Capable of Giant Deformation of Actuation
,” Phys. Rev. Lett.
, 104
(17
), p. 178302
.10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.17830213.
Kollosche
, M.
, Zhu
, J.
, Suo
, Z. G.
, and Kofod
, G.
, 2012
, “Complex Interplay of Nonlinear Processes in Dielectric Elastomers
,” Phys. Rev. E
, 85
(5
), p. 051801
.10.1103/PhysRevE.85.05180114.
Zhu
, J.
, Kollosche
, M.
, Lu
, T.
, Kofod
, G.
, and Suo
, Z. G.
, 2012
, “Two Types of Transitions to Wrinkles in Dielectric Elastomers
,” Soft Matter
, 8
(34
), pp. 8840
–8846
.10.1039/c2sm26034d15.
Kollosche
, M.
, Kofod
, G.
, Suo
, Z. G.
, and Zhu
, J.
, 2015
, “Temporal Evolution and Instability in a Viscoelastic Dielectric Elastomer
,” J. Mech. Phys. Solids
, 76
(3
), pp. 47
–64
.10.1016/j.jmps.2014.11.01316.
Xu
, B. X.
, Mueller
, R.
, Theis
, A.
, Klassen
, M.
, and Gross
, D.
, 2012
, “Dynamic Analysis of Dielectric Elastomer Actuators
,” Appl. Phys. Lett.
, 100
(11
), p. 112903
.10.1063/1.369426717.
Joglekar
, M. M.
, 2014
, “An Energy-Based Approach to Extract the Dynamic Instability Parameters of Dielectric Elastomer Actuators
,” ASME J. Appl. Mech.
, 81
(9
), p. 091010
.10.1115/1.402792518.
Zhu
, J.
, Cai
, S. Q.
, and Suo
, Z. G.
, 2010
, “Nonlinear Oscillation of a Dielectric Elastomer Balloon
,” Polym. Int.
, 59
(3
), pp. 378
–383
.10.1002/pi.276719.
Li
, T. F.
, Qu
, S. X.
, and Yang
, W.
, 2012
, “Electromechanical and Dynamic Analyses of Tunable Dielectric Elastomer Resonator
,” Int. J. Solids Struct.
, 49
(26
), pp. 3754
–3761
.10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2012.08.00620.
Dubois
, P.
, Rosset
, S.
, Niklaus
, M.
, Dadras
, M.
, and Shea
, H.
, 2008
, “Voltage Control of the Resonance Frequency of Dielectric Electroactive Polymer (DEAP) Membranes
,” J. Microelectromech. Syst.
, 17
(5
), pp. 1072
–1081
.10.1109/JMEMS.2008.92774121.
Kofod
, G.
, Sommer-Larsen
, P.
, Kornbluh
, R.
, and Pelrine
, R.
, 2003
, “Actuation Response of Polyacrylate Dielectric Elastomers
,” J. Intell. Mater. Syst. Struct.
, 14
(12
), pp. 787
–793
.10.1177/10453890303926022.
Jordan
, D. W.
, and Smith
, P.
, 1987
, Non-Linear Ordinary Differential Equations
, Clarendon Press
, Oxford, UK
.23.
Nayfeh
, A. H.
, and Mook
, D. T.
, 1979
, Non-Linear Oscillation
, Wiley
, New York
.24.
Zhu
, J.
, Ru
, C. Q.
, and Mioduchowski
, A.
, 2008
, “High-Order Subharmonic Parametric Resonance of Nonlinearly Coupled Micromechanical Oscillators
,” Eur. Phys. J. B
, 58
(4
), pp. 411
–421
.10.1140/epjb/e2007-00250-025.
Kofod
, G.
, 2008
, “The Static Actuation of Dielectric Elastomer Actuators: How Does Pre-Stretch Improve Actuation?
” J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys.
, 41
(21
), p. 215405
.10.1088/0022-3727/41/21/21540526.
Koh
, S. J. A.
, Li
, T. F.
, Zhou
, J. X.
, Zhao
, X. H.
, Hong
, W.
, Zhu
, J.
, and Suo
, Z. G.
, 2011
, “Mechanisms of Large Actuation Strain in Dielectric Elastomers
,” J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys.
, 49
(7
), pp. 504
–515
.10.1002/polb.2222327.
Anderson
, I. A.
, Gisby
, T. A.
, McKay
, T. G.
, O'Brien
, B. M.
, and Calius
, E. P.
, 2012
, “Multi-Functional Dielectric Elastomer Artificial Muscles for Soft and Smart Machines
,” J. Appl. Phys.
, 112
(4
), p. 041101
.10.1063/1.474002328.
Brochu
, P.
, and Pei
, Q. B.
, 2010
, “Advances in Dielectric Elastomers for Actuators and Artificial Muscles
,” Macromol. Rapid Commun.
, 31
(1
), pp. 10
–36
.10.1002/marc.20090042529.
Pelrine
, R. E.
, Kornbluh
, R. D.
, and Joseph
, J. P.
, 1998
, “Electrostriction of Polymer Dielectrics With Compliant Electrodes as a Means of Actuation
,” Sens. Actuators A
, 64
(1
), pp. 77
–85
.10.1016/S0924-4247(97)01657-930.
Zhenyl
, M.
, Scheinbeim
, J. I.
, Lee
, J. W.
, and Newman
, B. A.
, 1994
, “High Field Electrostrictive Response of Polymers
,” J. Polym. Sci. B
, 32
(16
), pp. 2721
–2731
.10.1002/polb.1994.09032161831.
Keplinger
, C.
, Li
, T. F.
, Baumgartner
, R.
, Suo
, Z. G.
, and Bauer
, S.
, 2012
, “Harnessing Snap-Through Instability in Soft Dielectrics to Achieve Giant Voltage-Triggered Deformation
,” Soft Matter
, 8
(2
), pp. 285
–288
.10.1039/C1SM06736B32.
Li
, T. F.
, Keplinger
, C.
, Baumgartner
, R.
, Bauer
, S.
, Yang
, W.
, and Suo
, Z. G.
, 2013
, “Giant Voltage-Induced Deformation in Dielectric Elastomers Near the Verge of Snap-Through Instability
,” J. Mech. Phys. Solids
, 61
(2
), pp. 611
–628
.10.1016/j.jmps.2012.09.00633.
Godaba
, H.
, Foo
, C. C.
, Zhang
, Z. Q.
, Khoo
, B. C.
, and Zhu
, J.
, 2014
, “Giant Voltage-Induced Deformation of a Dielectric Elastomer Under a Constant Pressure
,” Appl. Phys. Lett.
, 105
(11
), p. 112901
.10.1063/1.489581534.
An
, L.
, Wang
, F. F.
, Cheng
, S. B.
, Lu
, T. Q.
, and Wang
, T. J.
, 2015
, “Experimental Investigation of the Electromechanical Phase Transition in a Dielectric Elastomer Tube
,” Smart Mater. Struct.
, 24
(3
), p. 035006
.10.1088/0964-1726/24/3/035006Copyright © 2015 by ASME
You do not currently have access to this content.
