Dynamic analysis of a tunable viscoelastic dielectric elastomer oscillator under external excitation

摘要

As a category of soft electroactive materials, dielectric elastomers (DEs) show great potential for the development of tunable oscillators and resonators for actuating and sensing purposes. However, the dynamic performance of these DE-based vibration devices could be very susceptible to external environment (external loads and excitations) and material viscoelasticity of the DEs. Based on the finite-deformation viscoelasticity theory, this work first investigates the frequency tuning process of a viscoelastic DE membrane oscillator. A comparison of the frequency tuning process and the tunable frequency range between a viscoelastic and a purely elastic DE oscillator is presented. Moreover, particular considerations have been given to the nonlinear response of the oscillator to external harmonic excitation. It is found that the displacement transmissibility of the oscillator can also be actively tuned by changing the static voltage applied to the DE membrane. Under harmonic excitation, various vibration patterns of the oscillator could be actively achieved with the application of both static and alternating electric voltage. Simulation results in this work demonstrate that the material viscoelasticity has a significant effect on the electromechanical coupling and the dynamic performance of the DE-based vibration devices.