Thin elastomeric materials, such as thin films or thin membranes of silicone or silicone composites, have promising potential for the use in flexible actuators and sensors, particularly in the field of wearable electronics for health, sports, or robotics applications. For example, in dielectric actuators (DEA), a thin elastomer film is sandwiched between electrodes and deformed by the Maxwell stress when a high voltage is applied between the electrodes. In order to develop thin film sensors and actuators based on elastomers, we combine experimental and modelling approaches. We have determined the hyperelastic properties of various dog-bone-shaped silicone samples by tensile tests, using an adapted motorized test bench equipped with a force sensor. We analyse and discuss the measured force-displacement curves in comparison to three non-linear hyperelastic models, Neo Hookean, Mooney-Rivlin, and Ogden, in order to obtain the tensile properties of the silicone materials, and then calculate the expected actuation performance of DEAs. We use finite element modelling in Ansys to model 3D deformations of the thin films in DEA configuration, taking into account experimental boundary conditions. Finally, we fabricate DEAs and measure their actuation as a function of high voltage in a dedicated experimental set-up. We discuss the different modelling methods in comparison with the experimental results. This validated experimental and modeling framework lays the foundation for future parametric studies, where the influence of design variables on DEA performance can be systematically explored.
