Deformation and instabilities in dielectric elastomer composites

The deformation behavior in dielectric elastomer composites due to applied mechanical and electrical loadings is investigated using finite element methods. The composite structure consists of a dielectric elastomer matrix with a regular square array of cylindrical holes or rigid conducting inclusions. The dielectric elastomer material is represented with either a compressible Neo-Hookean model for the elasticity or a compressible Gent model. Following previous work, the dielectric constant relating the true electric displacement to the true electric field is taken to be independent of the deformation. The finite element method is used to analyze the electromechanical behavior of representative unit cells of the composite material structure. Results are presented for the stress-strain, electric field-electric displacement and coupled electromechanical responses of the different composite types.