Dielectric elastomers can generate large voltage-induced deformation and have been widely used as soft actuators. Dielectric elastomer multilayer structures function as bending-type actuators, enhancing their stiffness and ability to resist external loads. Modeling a dielectric elastomer multilayer bending actuator allows analyzing its bending performance, and obtaining the stress and strain distributions in each layer of the actuator. It is of practical importance to develop a simple, yet accurate model. This work develops a model to analyze the electromechanical behavior of the dielectric elastomer multilayer bending actuator with various pre-stretch, material, and structural parameters. We also propose a simplified model for a bilayer slender beam, which is a typical multilayer structure. The simplified model describes the relation between the beam bending curvature and the applied voltage, achieving fast calculation with little accuracy sacrificed. Both the model for the dielectric elastomer multilayer and the simplified model for the bilayer beam agree well with the experiment results, validating the models for practical applications in soft robots, flexible sensors, and smart structures.

中文翻译：

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介电弹性体多层弯曲致动器的机电分析和简化建模

介电弹性体会产生大的电压引起的变形，已被广泛用作软致动器。介电弹性体多层结构可充当弯曲型致动器，从而提高其刚度和抵抗外部载荷的能力。对介电弹性体多层弯曲致动器建模可以分析其弯曲性能，并获得致动器每一层的应力和应变分布。开发一个简单而准确的模型具有实际意义。这项工作开发了一个模型，以分析具有各种预拉伸，材料和结构参数的介电弹性体多层弯曲致动器的机电性能。我们还提出了双层细长梁的简化模型，这是一种典型的多层结构。简化的模型描述了束弯曲曲率与施加电压之间的关系，从而实现了快速计算而几乎不牺牲准确性。多层介电弹性体的模型和双层梁的简化模型都与实验结果非常吻合，验证了该模型在软机器人，柔性传感器和智能结构中的实际应用。