Electro-elastocapillary Rayleigh–plateau instability in dielectric elastomer films

We demonstrate, using both finite element simulations and a linear stability analysis, the emergence of an electro-elastocapillary Rayleigh-plateau instability in dielectric elastomer (DE) films under 2D, plane strain conditions. When subject to an electric field, the DEs exhibit a buckling instability for small elastocapillary numbers. For larger elastocapillary numbers, the DEs instead exhibit the Rayleigh-plateau instability. The stability analysis demonstrates the critical effect of the electric field in causing the Rayleigh-plateau instability, which cannot be induced solely by surface tension in DE films. Overall, this work demonstrates the effects of geometry, boundary conditions, and multi-physical coupling on a new example of Rayleigh-plateau instability in soft solids.