Experimental and numerical investigation of the electro-mechanical response of particle filled elastomers - Part I: Experimental investigations

Mehnert, M., Faber, J., Hossain, M., Chester, S. A. and Steinmann, P. (2022) Experimental and numerical investigation of the electro-mechanical response of particle filled elastomers - Part I: Experimental investigations. European Journal of Mechanics - A/Solids, 96, 104651. (doi: 10.1016/j.euromechsol.2022.104651)

Abstract

Electro-active polymers (EAPs) have the ability to undergo large deformations upon the stimulation by an electric field. They offer new design possibilities in a variety of applications, such as simple soft and flexible actuators, stretchable sensors, and energy harvesters. In the subclass of dielectric elastomers, the operation principle relies on the Coulomb forces between charged electrodes that deform the soft polymer. As the forces are dependent on the permittivity of the dielectric, the addition of filler particles with a high permittivity is a promising approach to increase the overall electro-mechanical coupling. This contribution presents the results of various mechanical and electro-mechanical experiments conducted with the silicone Elastosil P 7670TM filled with Barium-Titanate particles. These experiments are performed in such a fashion that the obtained results are well suited for the identification of the necessary material parameters of an electro-viscoelastic modelling approach in Part II of this contribution (Mehnert et al. Submitted).

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: M. Mehnert and P. Steinmann acknowledge the funding within the DFG project No. STE 544/52-2 and GRK2495/C. M. Hossain would like to extend his sincere appreciation to Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for an Impact Acceleration Award (EP/R511614/1). The financial support by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) Projektnummer 326998133 - TRR 225 (subproject B09) to J. Faber is gratefully acknowledged. S. Chester acknowledges partial support from the US National Science Foundation under grant number CMMI-1751520.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Steinmann, Professor Paul
• Authors: Mehnert, M., Faber, J., Hossain, M., Chester, S. A., and Steinmann, P.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Infrastructure and Environment
• Journal Name: European Journal of Mechanics - A/Solids
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0997-7538
• ISSN (Online): 1873-7285
• Published Online: 19 May 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 Elsevier
• First Published: First published in European Journal of Mechanics - A/Solids 96: 104651
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced with the permission of the author and the Tom Leonard Estate