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Updated: Jul 20, 2026

Fabrication Process of Silicone-based Dielectric Elastomer Actuators
Published on: February 1, 2016
Buckling of elastomer sheets under non-uniform electro-actuation
Hadrien Bense1, Miguel Trejo, Etienne Reyssat
1Laboratoire de Physique et Mécanique des Milieux Hétérogènes (PMMH), CNRS, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, Univ. Paris Diderot. Paris, France. hadrien.bense@espci.fr.
Abstract:
Dielectric elastomer sheets undergo in-plane expansion when stimulated by a transverse electric field. We study experimentally how dielectric plates subjected to a non-uniform voltage distribution undergo buckling instabilities. Two different configurations involving circular plates are investigated: plates freely floating on a bath of water, and plates clamped on a frame. We describe theoretically the out-of-plane deformation of the plates within the framework of weakly non-linear plate equations. This study constitutes a first step of a route to control the 3D activation of dielectric elastomers.
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