Dielectric elastomer actuators are operated in static domain. Aiming at the influence of the material property of dielectric elastomer and the structure of cylindrical actuator on the static characteristic, the main influencing factors on axial force of dielectric elastomer cylindrical actuator were studied. Adopting hyperelastic Yeoh model and simulation software ABAQUS, the axial force change of cylindrical actuator was analyzed under the condition of dielectric elastomer side lateral contraction, circumferential relaxation after convolution and compression between film layers. Compared with the actual actuator dimension, it is found that the circumferential relaxation after convolution is the most influential factor with respect to the axial force of cylindrical actuator, and the error is up to 25.9%. The two latter influence factors were taken into account and the error is less than 5% between the calculated result and the experiment. Finally, the quasi-static stiffness of cylindrical actuators was further studied, and the conclusion was gotten through the experiments that the film layer slippage can not be negligible when cylindrical actuator experiences large displacement.