Dynamics of pneumatically coupled visco-hyperelastic dielectric elastomer actuators: theoretical modeling and experimental investigation (Q2671697)

The authors report the development of a theoretical model for analyzing the electromechanical behavior of pneumatically coupled dielectric elastomer (PCDE), spherical cap-shaped axisymmetric inflating actuators. Comparison with experiment is carried out. The device consists of an air chamber on which two viscoelastic dielectric elastomer membranes (DE) are clamped peripherally, of which one (active) membrane is electrically driven, while the other has passive role. The model assumes homogeneous deformations and takes in consideration the effects of membrane viscoelasticity, electromechanical coupling, and time-dependent AC electric loading. The effect of the compressible air column in the chamber is included by introducing an air-spring connecting the two membranes. It is noted that the analysis can be extended to include inhomogeneous deformation. A variational approach based on Hamilton principle is used to derive the governing equations of dynamic equilibrium. The effect of the different parameters included in the model on the actuator performance is scrutinized. The proposed theoretical model is found to be in good agreement with the experimental observations. The differences between the calculated and the observed deflections of the membranes are recorded. Future perspectives of the present study are presented in the conclusions.