Bifurcation of a dielectric elastomer balloon under pressurized inflation and electricactuation

Fu, YB; Xie, YX; Liu, JC

Abstract

It is previously known that under inflation alone a spherical rubber membrane balloon may bifurcate into a pear shape when the tension in the membrane reaches a maximum, but the existence of such a maximum depends on the material model used: the maximum exists for the Ogden model, but does not exist for the neo-Hookean, Mooney–Rivlin or Gent model. This paper discusses how such a situation is changed when a pressurized dielectric elastomer balloon is subjected to additional electric actuation. A similar bifurcation condition is first deduced and then verified numerically by computing the bifurcated solutions explicitly. It is shown that when the material is an ideal dielectric elastomer, bifurcation into a pear shape is possible for all material models, and similar results are obtained when a typical non-ideal dielectric elastomer is considered. It is further shown that whenever a pear-shaped configuration is possible it has lower total energy than the co-existing spherical configuration.

Citation

Fu, Y., Xie, Y., & Liu, J. (2015). Bifurcation of a dielectric elastomer balloon under pressurized inflation and electricactuation. International Journal of Solids and Structures, 182-188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2015.08.027

• Acceptance Date: Aug 31, 2015
• Publication Date: Oct 19, 2015
• Journal: Interntional Journal of Solids and Structures
• Print ISSN: 0020-7683
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Pages: 182-188
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2015.08.027
• Keywords: Dielectric elastomer, Bifurcation, Instability, Spherical balloons, Nonlinear elasticity
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2015.08.027