Method to analyze programmable deformation of dielectric elastomer layers

As a complement to the current issue of journal club, I would like to bring your attention to our current work on dielectric elastomers. 

Xuanhe Zhao and Zhigang Suo A layer of a dielectric elastomer expands its area when a voltage is applied across its thickness.  The layer can be programmed to deform in three dimensions by using patterned prestretches, electrodes, and stiffeners.  To aid the design of such programmable deformation, this paper describes a computational method, exploiting the fact that the prescribed voltage sets the nominal electric field.  The method is demonstrated with examples including formation of wrinkles, movements of a hand-like actuator, and nonlinear oscillation of a balloon.