Electro-elastocapillary Rayleigh–plateau instability in dielectric elastomer films

Abstract

We demonstrate, using both finite element simulations and a linear stability analysis, the emergence of an electro-elastocapillary Rayleigh–plateau instability in dielectric elastomer (DE) films under 2D, plane strain conditions. When subject to an electric field, the DEs exhibit a buckling instability for small elastocapillary numbers. For larger elastocapillary numbers, the DEs instead exhibit the Rayleigh–plateau instability. The stability analysis demonstrates the critical effect of the electric field in causing the Rayleigh–plateau instability, which cannot be induced solely by surface tension in DE films. Overall, this work demonstrates the effects of geometry, boundary conditions, and multi-physical coupling on a new example of Rayleigh–plateau instability in soft solids.