The main failure mode for dielectric electroactive polymer (DEAP) materials is electrical breakdown and many factors influence its occurrence, for example impurities in the dielectric, the magnitude of the electric field and environmental conditions (temperature and humidity). The electrodes that sandwich the elastomer play a key role in the electromechanical strain performance of the DEAP. Compliant metal electrode technology achieves compliance in the DEAP material by using a corrugated electrode profile. The advantages of using compliant metal electrode technology include (a) excellent conductivity, (b) 'self-healing' capability when electrical breakdown takes place and (c) unidirectional motion of the material when a voltage is applied. In this contribution, the electric field and surface charge density characteristics of a compliant metal electrode-based DEAP material are investigated. The corrugation profile used in the material is sinusoidal with a maximum strain of 33%. Modelling the electric field and surface charge density in this DEAP material provides insight into the possible influence of electrodes with a corrugation profile on electrical breakdown behaviour.

Date Published: 9 April 2010
PDF: 12 pages
Proc. SPIE 7642, Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2010, 76422P (9 April 2010); doi: 10.1117/12.845760

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7642:
Electroactive Polymer Actuators and Devices (EAPAD) 2010
Yoseph Bar-Cohen, Editor(s)