Inhomogeneous deformation of circular dielectric elastomer: Simulation and experiment

A variety of possible configurations have been developed to exploit the capabilities of the dielectric elastomers1. Circular dielectric actuator is a simple flexible structure that can be used in many areas, for example, it can be employed to adjust the properties of the optical elements2-4. The configurations of circular dielectric actuators range from one active dielectric region to multiple active dielectric regions. When the active dielectric regions subjected to a voltage, they will expand and compress the electrode-less regions5. The circular actuator in this work consists of two electrode regions and two electrode-less regions. One electrode-less region is an annular elastomer sandwiched between the inner dielectric circle and the middle dielectric annulus. The other electrode-less region is between the middle dielectric annulus and the rigid frame. We study the properties of the actuator based on the ideal dielectric model and obtain the relationship between the applied voltage and the deformation. Additionally, the inhomogeneous deformation of the circular actuator has been investigated both theoretically and experimentally and a good correlation is achieved. The strategy presented here is generic and can be applied to other circular configurations with multiple regions. The results may contribute to the use of circular dielectric actuators in advance.