Viscoelastic creep elimination in dielectric elastomer actuation by preprogrammed voltage

Abstract

Viscoelasticity causes a time-dependent deformation and lowers the response speed and energy conversion efficiency of VHB-based dielectric elastomers (DEs), thus seriously restricting a wide range of applications of this otherwise versatile soft smart material. The viscoelastic deformation of a prestretched VHB film in a circular actuator configuration is studied both theoretically and experimentally. By adjusting the applied voltage, viscoelastic creep can be dispelled and an invariable strain is obtained by simulation. Subsequently, an experiment was designed to validate the simulation and the results indicate that a constant strain can be achieved by preprogramming the applied actuation voltage.