Research on electrostrictive strain performance of stacked dielectric elastomer actuators

The stacked dielectric elastomer actuator is fabricated and its actuation mechanism is introduced. The effects of the number of layers, the size of the single-layer electrode area, and the pre-stretched rate on the electrostrictive strain performance of the actuator under the action of electric field are discussed. The results show that the size of the single-layer electrode area has little effect on the electrostrictive strain, and the deformation ability of the actuator is not monotonously enhanced with the increase of the number of layers and the pre-stretched rate. When the number of layers reaches 20, there is little difference between the samples of different layers. They all have about 18% axial strain and 12 kV/mm electric field strength. Under the condition of 150% pre-stretched rate, the actuator has maximum 28.64% axial strain, and the voltage can reach 9KV. If the pre-stretched rate is too small or exceeds 200%, the actuator will not produce significant electrical deformation. Therefore, this work mainly provides some insights into the effect of stacked dielectric elastomer actuators on the electrostrictive strain performance.