TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kollosche, Matthias
A1  - Kofod, Guggi
A1  - Suo, Zhigang
A1  - Zhu, Jian
T1  - Temporal evolution and instability in a viscoelastic dielectric elastomer
JF  - Journal of the mechanics and physics of solids
N2  - Dielectric elastomer transducers are being developed for applications in stretchable electronics, tunable optics, biomedical devices, and soft machines. These transducers exhibit highly nonlinear electromechanical behavior: a dielectric membrane under voltage can form wrinkles, undergo snap-through instability, and suffer electrical breakdown. We investigate temporal evolution and instability by conducting a large set of experiments under various prestretches and loading rates, and by developing a model that allows viscoelastic instability. We use the model to classify types of instability, and map the experimental observations according to prestretches and loading rates. The model describes the entire set of experimental observations. A new type of instability is discovered, which we call wrinkle-to-wrinkle transition. A flat membrane at a critical voltage forms wrinkles and then, at a second critical voltage, snaps into another state of winkles of a shorter wavelength. This study demonstrates that viscoelasticity is essential to the understanding of temporal evolution and instability of dielectric elastomers. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
KW  - Dielectric elastomer
KW  - Viscoelasticity
KW  - Snap-through instability
KW  - Phase transition
KW  - Wrinkling
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2014.11.013
SN  - 0022-5096
SN  - 1873-4782
VL  - 76
SP  - 47
EP  - 64
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Oxford
ER  -