Compression-induced failure of electroactive polymeric thin films

The onset of compression induces wrinkling in actuation devices based on electroactive polymer thin films, which leads to a sudden decrease in performances and, eventually, to failure. Inspired by the classical tension field theory for thin membranes, we provide a general framework for the analysis of the insurgence of in-plane compressions. Our main result is the analytical deduction of a voltage-dependent domain of tensile configurations in the principal stretches plane. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3568885]