Multiple breakdown phenomena may take place when operating dielectric elastomers. Thermal breakdown, which occurs due to Joule heating, becomes of special importance when using multilayered stacks of dielectric elastomers, due to the large volume‐to‐surface‐area‐ratio. In this article, a 2D axisymmetric finite‐element model of a multilayered stack of dielectric elastomers is set up in COMSOL Multiphysics®. Both the electro‐thermal and electro‐mechanical couplings are considered, allowing for determination of the onset of thermal breakdown. Simulation results show that an entrapped particle in the dielectric elastomer drastically reduces the possible number of layers in the stack. Furthermore, the possible number of layers is greatly affected by the ambient temperature and the applied voltage. The performance of three hyperelastic material models for modeling the elastomer deformation are compared, and it is established that the Gent model yields the most restrictive prediction of breakdown point, while the Ogden model yields the least restrictive estimation.

中文翻译：

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多层介电弹性体中热击穿的电热和机械模型

操作介电弹性体时可能会发生多种击穿现象。当使用多层堆叠的介电弹性体时，由于焦耳热而引起的热击穿变得尤为重要，这是因为体积与表面积之比很大。在本文中，在COMSOLMultiphysics®中建立了多层介电弹性体堆栈的二维轴对称有限元模型。电热和机电耦合都被考虑在内，从而可以确定热击穿的开始。仿真结果表明，介电弹性体中的截留颗粒大大减少了堆叠中可能的层数。此外，环境温度和施加的电压极大地影响了可能的层数。