Numerical Model for Electro‐Mechanical Analysis Based on Finite Element Method

In this paper, we present a numerical procedure that can be used to model the electro‐mechanical coupled behavior of the dielectric actuator domain. The equation describing the electrostatical part is given by the reduced form of the Maxwell equation and the electrostatic potential [1]. The mechanical problem is described by the constitutive equations and equilibrium equations. Using the finite element method, this technique is to divide a whole problem into sub‐problems. The complexity of the original problem is therefore reduced by focusing only on the most relevant areas. A finite element analysis is then performed by applying the electrostatic Maxwell pressure as Neumann boundary conditions to compute the displacements. Once the displacement is computed, the electrostatic domain or the conductor is updated. Electrostatic analysis is performed on the updated geometry and the finite element method is then used to determine the change in potential due to geometric perturbations. Once the surface charge densities are known, the new electrostatic Maxwell pressure is computed. The mechanical and electrostatic analysis is repeated until an equilibrium state is computed. The procedure is demonstrated in the paper by the solution of some two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional problems. (© 2013 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)