Modeling the effect of inelasticity on instabilities in soft dielectrics

Abstract eng:
Soft dielectrics undergo large deformations in response to an electric field and consequently have attracted a lot of interest as smart active materials with a wide range of applications. The literature on this topic has historically been split between either theoretical studies or device level experiments, with limited communication. In this paper we report on our modeling capability calibrated to VHB 4910, a widely studied soft dielectric material in the literature, which exhibits a significant level of dissipation. We use specially developed finite elements to study the role of visco-elasticity on instabilities in soft dielectrics. Our results show that viscoelastic effects tend to suppress instabilities under cyclic loading.

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