Wrinkling of Dielectric Elastomer Membranes

Wrinkling of thin membranes due to different in-
plane loadings and boundary conditions has drawn
attention of researchers in structural engineering
since the development of thin webs for early
aircraft structures. More recently, pre-stressed
lightweight membrane structures have been proposed
for future space missions, for example solar sails,
the next generation space telescope sunshield and
space-based radar systems. These structures are
often partially wrinkled during operation. The
formation of wrinkles alters the load paths and the
structural stiffness of the membranes. More
importantly its occurrence degrades the surface
accuracy of these structures, which is a key design
parameter. This book focuses on wrinkling of thin
silicone rubber membranes subjected to uniaxial
tensile load with clamping boundary condition, and
investigates the onset and profiles of wrinkles
using both experimental and numerical approaches. An
idea of suppressing wrinkle instabilities of
dielectric elastomer membranes using through-
thickness electric field was proposed and verified
in both experiments and numerical simulations.

Autorentext

Ling Zheng, Doctor of Philosophy, Studied Mechanical Engineering and Applied Physics at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 2004~2008. Test R&D Engineer at Intel Corporation, Chandler, AZ, 2008~present.

Klappentext

Wrinkling of thin membranes due to different in- plane loadings and boundary conditions has drawn attention of researchers in structural engineering since the development of thin webs for early aircraft structures. More recently, pre-stressed lightweight membrane structures have been proposed for future space missions, for example solar sails, the next generation space telescope sunshield and space-based radar systems. These structures are often partially wrinkled during operation. The formation of wrinkles alters the load paths and the structural stiffness of the membranes. More importantly its occurrence degrades the surface accuracy of these structures, which is a key design parameter. This book focuses on wrinkling of thin silicone rubber membranes subjected to uniaxial tensile load with clamping boundary condition, and investigates the onset and profiles of wrinkles using both experimental and numerical approaches. An idea of suppressing wrinkle instabilities of dielectric elastomer membranes using through- thickness electric field was proposed and verified in both experiments and numerical simulations.