Tunable morphing of electroactive dielectric-elastomer balloons

TL;DR

This paper develops a mathematical framework to analyze and control shape transformations in electroactive dielectric-elastomer balloons, enabling tunable morphing for applications like soft robotics and actuators.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive nonlinear electro-elasticity theory and surface impedance matrix method to predict and control morphological transitions in layered DE balloons.

Findings

Controlled onset of buckling and necking through design parameters

Demonstrated nonlinear deformation behaviors via finite element simulations

Potential for customizable soft robotic and actuator devices

Abstract

Designing smart devices with tunable shapes has important applications in industrial manufacture. In this paper, we investigate the nonlinear deformation and the morphological transitions between buckling, necking, and snap-through instabilities of layered DE balloons in response to an applied radial voltage and an inner pressure. We propose a general mathematical theory of nonlinear electro-elasticity able to account for finite inhomogeneous strains provoked by the electro-mechanical coupling. We investigate the onsets of morphological transitions of the spherically symmetric balloons using the surface impedance matrix method. Moreover, we study the nonlinear evolution of the bifurcated branches through finite element numerical simulations. Our analysis demonstrates the possibility to design tunable DE spheres, where the onset of buckling and necking can be controlled by geometrical and mechanical properties of the passive elastic layers. Relevant applications include soft robotics and mechanical actuators.