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Estimation and validation of maxwell stress of planar dielectric elastomer actuators

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Abstract

In this paper, Maxwell stress of circular planar actuator at different applied voltages was estimated and then validated with the uniaxial compression test of three different dielectric elastomers (VHB, silicone and natural rubber). Pelrine’s equation was revisited to estimate Maxwell stress which causes the actuation in the planar direction. More precise and accurate estimation of Maxwell stress could be made in this work by considering variation of dielectric constant with respect to frequency and pre-strain. Estimated Maxwell stress was validated through (i) out-of-plane strain or thickness strain obtained from measured area strain considering constant volume deformation, and (ii) out-of-plane mechanical compressive test results. The estimated Maxwell stress agrees well with the corresponding experimental compressive stress values for different pre-straining cases considered in this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Raipur, Raipur, 492010, India

    Raj Kumar Sahu

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Patna, 800013, India

    Abhishek Saini, Dilshad Ahmad & Karali Patra

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9, Canada

    Jerzy Szpunar

Authors
  1. Raj Kumar Sahu
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  2. Abhishek Saini
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  3. Dilshad Ahmad
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  4. Karali Patra
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  5. Jerzy Szpunar
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karali Patra.

Additional information

Raj Kumar Sahu received his B. Tech. Degree from MIT Purnea in 2008 (Bihar, India), and his M. Tech. degree from National Institute of Technology Jamshedpur in 2010 (Jharkhand, India), and his Ph.D. degree from Indian Institute of Technology Patna in 2014 (Bihar, India). All degrees are in mechanical engineering. He is currently an assistant professor at Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Raipur, India (Chhattisgarh, India). His research interests are focused on smart materials, materials characterization using modern techniques, material development, etc.

Karali Patra is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Patna (IIT Patna), Patna, India. He did his BTech, MTech and Ph.D. from BE College, Shibpur (IIEST, Shibpur), IIT Guwahati and IIT Kharagpur in 1997, 2003 and 2008, respectively. He worked as research associate at Robotics Research Center, Nanyang Technological University in 2007-2008 and as Reader in Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, India before joining IIT Patna in 2008. His current research interests are actuators and energy harvesting applications of electroactive polymers, bio-robotics and micro-manufacturing processes.

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Sahu, R.K., Saini, A., Ahmad, D. et al. Estimation and validation of maxwell stress of planar dielectric elastomer actuators. J Mech Sci Technol 30, 429–436 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-015-1247-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-015-1247-y

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