Electromechanical Instability of a Dielectric Elastomer Balloon

As an electroactive polymer, dielectric elastomer has been recently intensively explored in different engineering applications, ranging from soft robot, haptic devices, artificial muscle to energy harvesting system. In the applications, inflated dielectric elastomer balloons of various shapes have been widely adopted. Some recent experiments have shown unusual instability modes in dielectric elastomer balloon, when it is subjected to an internal pressure and electric voltage.
In the talk, I will present our theoretical analysis of electromechanical instability of dielectric elastomer balloons with considering electromechanical coupling effect, hyperelasticity and viscoelasticity of the material. Our theoretical results have indicated that the electromechanical instability of the dielectric elastomer balloon may dramatically affect its performance or even determine its failure mechanism. Our results further show that by controlling the electromechanical loading path, we may achieve or avoid the electromechanical instabilities of the balloon. Our theoretical predictions agree very well with experimental observations.