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This and the next image are from:
Christoph Keplinger (1,2), Tiefeng Li (2,3), Richard Baumgartner (1), Zhigang Suo (2) and Siegfried Bauer (1)
(1) Soft Matter Physics, Johannes Kepler University, Altenbergerstrasse 69, A-4040 Linz, Austria.
(2) School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA
(3) Institute of Applied Mechanics, Zhejiang University, 38 Zheda Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310027, China
“Harnessing snap-through instability in soft dielectrics to achieve giant voltage-triggered deformation”, Soft Matter, Vol. 8, pp 285-288, 2012
ABSTRACT: A soft dielectric membrane is prone to snap-through instability. We present theory and experiment to show that the instability can be harnessed to achieve giant voltage-triggered deformation. We mount a membrane on a chamber of a suitable volume, pressurize the membrane into a state near the verge of the instability, and apply a voltage to trigger the snap without causing electrical breakdown. For an acrylic membrane we demonstrate voltage-triggered expansion of area by 1692%, far beyond the largest value reported in the literature. The large expansion can even be retained after the voltage is switched off.
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