Investigation of the Dynamic Breakdown of a Dielectric Elastomer Actuator Under Cyclic Voltage Excitation

The dielectric elastomer (DE) is a new kind of functional polymer that can be used as a smart actuator due to the large deformation induced by voltage excitation. Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) are usually excited by dynamic voltages to generate alternating motions. DEAs are prone to premature breakdown failure during the dynamic excitation, while the research on the breakdown of DEAs under cyclic voltage excitation is still not fully revealed. In this paper, the dynamic breakdown behaviors of DEAs made from VHB4910 film were experimentally investigated. The factors affecting the breakdown behavior of DEAs under dynamic voltages were determined, and the relevant changing laws were summarized accordingly. The experimental results show that under dynamic voltage excitation, the critical breakdown voltage of DEAs were augmented slowly with voltage frequency and showed a substantial dispersion. In addition, the maximum cycle numbers before breakdown were significantly affected by voltage parameters (such as frequency, amplitude, waveform). Finally, the underlying mechanisms of breakdown under cyclic voltages were discussed qualitatively, a power-law equation was proposed to characterize the maximum cycle number for the dynamic breakdown of DEAs, and related parameters were fitted. This study provides a new path to predict the service life of DEAs under dynamic voltage.