Publication 20-CNA-021

The interplay between symmetry-breaking and symmetry-preserving bifurcations in soft dielectric films and the emergence of giant electro-actuation

Lingling Chen
Department of Engineering Mechanics
School of Civil Engineering
Shandong University
Jinan, 250061, China

Xu Yang
Department of Engineering Mechanics
School of Civil Engineering
Shandong University
Jinan, 250061, China

Binglei Wang
Department of Engineering Mechanics
School of Civil Engineering
Shandong University
Jinan, 250061, China

Shengyou Yang
Department of Engineering Mechanics
School of Civil Engineering
Shandong University
Jinan, 250061, China
and
Suzhou Research Institute
Shandong University
Jiangsu, 215123, China
syang_mechanics@sdu.edu.cn

Kaushik Dayal
Center for Nonlinear Analysis
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Kaushik.Dayal@cmu.edu

Pradeep Sharma
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Department of Physics
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204, USA
psharma@uh.edu

Abstract: Soft elastomers that can exhibit extremely large deformations under the action of an electric field are essential for applications such as soft robotics, stretchable and flexible electronics, energy harvesting among others. The critical limiting factor in conventional electro-actuation of such materials is the occurrence of the so-called pull-in instability. In this work, we demonstrate an extraordinarily simple way to coax a dielectric thin film towards a symmetry-breaking pitchfork bifurcation state while avoiding pull-in instability. Through the nonlinear interplay between the two bifurcation modes, we predict electro-actuation strains that exceed what is conventionally possible by 200%, and at significantly lower applied electric fields.

Get the paper in its entirety as  20-CNA-021.pdf

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