Electromechanical Performance of Viscoelastic Dielectric Elastomer Actuator Undergoing Temperature Variation

Viscoelasticity causes a time-dependent performance and affects the conversion efficiency of VHB-based dielectric elastomers actuator (DEA), when subject to voltage and temperature. However, few reports focus on the effect of temperature on the viscoelastic electromechanical performance on the DEA. The viscoelastic performance of a VHB film in a circular actuator configuration undergoing temperature variation is studied both theoretically and experimentally. Subjected to temperature variation and voltage, viscoelastic creep and higher deformation at higher temperature are obtained using thermodynamics models. Subsequently, an experiment was designed to validate the simulation and the results indicate that DEA creeps with time due to the viscoelasticity and a bigger deformation can be achieved at a higher temperature, which shows well consistent with the experimental results.