A Finite Element Model for Investigating the Thermo-Electro-Mechanical Response of Inhomogeneously Deforming Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

Authors

  • Atul Kumar Sharma Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, Jodhpur 342037, India
  • Aman Khurana Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India
  • Manish M. Joglekar Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13052/ejcm2642-2085.30464

Keywords:

Dielectric elastomers, Nonlinear thermo-electro-hyperelasticity, Finite element method, Finite deformation, Inhomogeneous deformation, Buckling pump actuator

Abstract

Among the available soft active materials, Dielectric elastomers (DEs) possess the capability of achieving the large actuation strain under the application of high electric field. The material behavior of such elastomers is affected significantly by the change in temperature. This paper reports a 3-D finite element framework based on the coupled nonlinear theory of thermo-electro-elasticity for investigating the thermal effects on the electromechanical performance of inhomogeneously deforming dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs). The material behavior of the actuator is modeled using the neo-Hookean model of hyperelasticity with temperature dependent shear modulus. An in-house computational code is developed to implement the coupled finite element framework. Firstly, the accuracy of the developed FE code is verified by simulating the temperature effects on the actuation response and pull-in instability of the benchmark homogeneously deforming planar DE actuator. Further, the influence of temperature on the electromechanical responses of complex bi-layered bending actuator and buckling pump actuator involving inhomogeneous deformation is investigated. The numerical framework and the associated inferences can find their potential use in addressing the effect of temperature in the design of electro-active polymer based actuators.

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Author Biographies

Atul Kumar Sharma, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, Jodhpur 342037, India

Atul Kumar Sharma obtained his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India, in 2019. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, India. His research interests are: Mechanics of soft active materials, Finite element methods for coupled field problems, Stability analysis and control of electrically driven mechanical structures, Wave propagation in soft active composite materials, Topology optimization.

Aman Khurana, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India

Aman Khurana received the bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Graphic Era University, Dehradun in 2013, the master’s degree in applied mechanics from Motilal Nehru National Institute of technology, Allahabad in 2017, respectively. He is currently working as research scholar at the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, IIT Roorkee. His research areas include analysis of dielectric elastomer based minimum energy structures, soft-active materials, smart material etc.

Manish M. Joglekar, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee 247667, India

Manish M. Joglekar is an Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, IIT Roorkee. He obtained his B.E. from Mumbai University, M.E. from Walchand College of Engineering, and PhD from IIT Bombay, all three in Mechanical Engineering discipline. Prior to joining IIT Roorkee as an Assistant Professor in 2012, Manish worked as a Research Scientist at General Motors’ India Science Lab in Bengaluru. His broad research interests include computational mechanics, nonlinear elasticity, and structural dynamics. In particular, his research group at IIT Roorkee has been active in addressing the mechanics of soft active materials both theoretically and experimentally, with a specific focus on biomimetic engineering. He has about 40 papers published in various international journals and conferences of repute. Manish is the recipient of the 2018 IIT Roorkee Outstanding Teacher Award and the 2019 Institute Research Fellowship for the Outstanding Young Faculty.

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Published

2021-12-08

How to Cite

Sharma, A. K., Khurana, A., & Joglekar, M. M. (2021). A Finite Element Model for Investigating the Thermo-Electro-Mechanical Response of Inhomogeneously Deforming Dielectric Elastomer Actuators. European Journal of Computational Mechanics, 30(4-6), 387–408. https://doi.org/10.13052/ejcm2642-2085.30464

Issue

2021: Vol 30 Iss 4-6

Section

Original Article