Experimental research on strain characteristics of electroactive acrylic elastomer

Based on theoretical analysis, the strain characteristics of electroactive acrylic elastomer was studied by experiments. In the experiments, the electroactive acrylic elastomer was realised with a biaxial pre-stretched circular film coated with two compliant electrodes of graphite powder or conductive adhesive. Electroactive strain values were measured for different electrode materials, pre-strain values and driving voltages. The results show that the pre-strain values and electrode materials strongly influenced the electromechanical performances of the elastomer. The inflexion of electroactive strain was found for different pre-strain values, and the electroactive strain value increased with the augmentation of the driving voltage when the pre-strain level was below the inflexion, otherwise, the electroactive strain value would decrease with the augmentation of the driving voltage. The impact of electrode materials on the elastomer could be attributed to two factors: the conductivity and mechanical flexibility. In addition, the instability phenomenons including fluctuant and insantaneous types were discovered, and their mechanism was investigated and analyzed. The hysteresis loop due to the viscoelasticity charateristic of electroactive acrylic elastomer was measured. The experimantal results accorded with analytical model.