Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Gatti, Davide
• Haus, Henry
• Matysek, Marc
• Frohnapfel, Bettina
• Tropea, Cameron
• Schlaak, Helmut F.

Titel

The dielectric breakdown limit of silicone dielectric elastomer actuators

Ist Teil von

• Applied physics letters, 2014-02, Vol.104 (5)

Ort / Verlag

Melville: American Institute of Physics

Erscheinungsjahr

2014

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

American Institute of Physics (AIP) Journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Soft silicone elastomers are used in a generation of dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) with improved actuation speed and durability compared to the commonly used, highly viscoelastic polyacrylate 3M VHB™ films. The maximum voltage-induced stretch of DEAs is ultimately limited by their dielectric breakdown field strength. We measure the dependence of dielectric breakdown field strength on thickness and stretch for a silicone elastomer, when voltage-induced deformation is prevented. The experimental results are combined with an analytic model of equi-biaxial actuation to show that accounting for variable dielectric field strength results in different values of optimal pre-stretch and thickness that maximize the DEA actuation.