New actuation modes of composite dielectric elastomers

Liguori, Pietro and Gei, Massimiliano ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3869-7504 2023. New actuation modes of composite dielectric elastomers. Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 479 (2275) , 20230168. 10.1098/rspa.2023.0168

Preview

PDF - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

The typical actuation mode of a dielectric elastomer membrane subjected to an electric field across its thickness is in-plane expansion. We show that, by selecting properly the contrast between phases (i.e. shear moduli and permittivity ratios), a hierarchical laminate may display longitudinal contraction when actuated in the same way. In particular, simple and second rank laminates are investigated. The latter performs in general better; however, we provide a guideline on how to optimize the microstructure to limit the values of the contrast parameters at which the new ‘non-conventional’ mode becomes available. As the requirements in terms of permittivity ratio of the two phases are somewhat extreme, we review the availability of materials that have been processed so far to assess the viability of such composite devices.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Engineering
Publisher:	The Royal Society
ISSN:	1364-5021
Funders:	EPSRC
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	8 August 2023
Date of Acceptance:	7 June 2023
Last Modified:	01 Dec 2023 15:23
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/161469

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item