Typical dielectric elastomer structures: dynamics and application in structural vibration control

In recent years, dielectric elastomer (DE) structures have received great attention in various fields of engineering, such as artificial muscle, soft robot, resonator, and structural vibration control, due to its prominent advantages. In the present paper, the theoretical and experimental research into the dynamical behavior of DE structures and their application for vibration control is reviewed. In the theoretical research into dynamical behavior, from a mechanics viewpoint, DE structures are usually categorized into four types, i.e., spherical, rectangular, tubular, and circular. For each type of DE structure, the mathematical description is given and the dynamical behavior, such as the resonant property, jump, and bifurcation, is summarized. Moreover, the work on dynamical experiments is briefly outlined. In the application for vibration control, stack-type and tubular-type DE structures usually used as actuators are surveyed. The established control algorithms for the controlled systems using DE actuators are described. The challenges for the research into the dynamics of DE structure and its application for vibration control and some promising theories which may be applied for the research are pointed out.