Dynamic model and analysis of a dielectric elastomer vibration isolator

Dielectric elastomers are a kind of electroactive polymer and have a great potential for application to soft actuators. Dielectric elastomer materials also feature nonlinear response owing to the electromechanical coupling. In this work, a theoretical dynamic model was developed to characterize the nonlinear performance of a dielectric elastomer actuator used as a vibration isolator. The vibration reduction mechanism of dielectric elastomer structures is theoretically described. An experiment was also performed to validate the model. The experimental results tend to match well with the numerical calculation.