Dielectric elastomers - numerical modeling of nonlinear visco-electroelasticity

Dielectric elastomer actuators that can directly turn electrical energy into mechanical energy belong to the group of electroactive polymers. This type of electroelastic material exhibits large displacement characteristics and is able to change its mechanical behavior in response to the application of an electric field. Dielectric actuators are made out of elastomers which in general show viscoelastic behavior. To take this time dependent effect into account, the deformation gradient is multiplicatively decomposed. The paper is focused on the numerical modeling of soft dielectric elastomers. The theoretical foundation and the consistent finite element implementation is outlined based on the laws of electricity and elasticity. Furthermore, numerical examples of the nonlinear visco-electroelasticity model are shown. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.