Mechanics of reversible wrinkling in a soft dielectric elastomer.

A parallel array of wrinkles can be generated in a simple parallel plate capacitor arrangement with a soft dielectric elastomer plate constrained all around its periphery and coated with flexible electrodes. The direction of the wrinkles is predetermined and the phenomenon is reversible in a range of applied potentials. A model of the wrinkled plate as a prestretched neo-Hookean membrane with superposed small out-of-plane bending displacements yields good estimates of the potential range for wrinkling as well as the number of parallel wrinkles. The mechanics is controlled by the thickness and aspect ratios, prestretch, and a nondimensional electric potential.