# The Thickness and Stretch Dependence of the Electrical Breakdown Strength of an Acrylic Dielectric Elastomer

 Title: The Thickness and Stretch Dependence of the Electrical Breakdown Strength of an Acrylic Dielectric Elastomer Author: Clarke, David R.; Huang, Jiangshui; Shian, Samuel; Diebold, Roger Mitchell; Suo, Zhigang Note: Order does not necessarily reflect citation order of authors. Citation: Huang, Jiangshui, Samuel Shian, Roger M. Diebold, Zhigang Suo, and David R. Clarke. 2012. The thickness and stretch dependence of the electrical breakdown strength of an acrylic dielectric elastomer. Applied Physics Letters 101:122905. Full Text & Related Files: Huang_Thickness.pdf (434.0Kb; PDF) Abstract: The performance of dielectric elastomer actuators is limited by electrical breakdown. Attempts to measure this are confounded by the voltage-induced thinning of the elastomer. A test configuration is introduced that avoids this problem: A thin sheet of elastomer is stretched, crossed-wire electrodes are attached, and then embedded in a stiff polymer. The applied electric field at breakdown, $$E_{B}$$, is found to depend on both the deformed thickness, h, and the stretch applied, $$\lambda$$. For the acrylic elastomer investigated, the breakdown field scales as $$E_{B}$$  =  51  h$$^{ − 0.25 }$$ $$\lambda$$$$^{0.63}$$. The test configuration allows multiple individual tests to be made on the same sheet of elastomer. Published Version: doi:10.1063/1.4754549 Terms of Use: This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Open Access Policy Articles, as set forth at http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of-use#OAP Citable link to this page: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:9887625

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Peer reviewed scholarly articles from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University