scholarly journals Localized soft elasticity in liquid crystal elastomers

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Taylor H. Ware ◽  
John S. Biggins ◽  
Andreas F. Shick ◽  
Mark Warner ◽  
Timothy J. White
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Soft Elasticity ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomers

“Soft elasticity” — deformation without resistance in liquid crystal elastomers

1994 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Warner ◽  
P. Bladon ◽  
E. M. Terentjev
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Soft Elasticity ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomers

scholarly journals Soft elasticity optimises dissipation in 3D-printed liquid crystal elastomers

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Mistry ◽  
N. A. Traugutt ◽  
B. Sanborn ◽  
R. H. Volpe ◽  
L. S. Chatham ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Strain Energy ◽  
Severity Index ◽  
Strain Rates ◽  
Direct Ink Writing ◽  
Buckling Behavior ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
Soft Elasticity ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomers ◽  
Director Orientation

AbstractSoft-elasticity in monodomain liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) is promising for impact-absorbing applications where strain energy is ideally absorbed at constant stress. Conventionally, compressive and impact studies on LCEs have not been performed given the notorious difficulty synthesizing sufficiently large monodomain devices. Here, we use direct-ink writing 3D printing to fabricate bulk (>cm3) monodomain LCE devices and study their compressive soft-elasticity over 8 decades of strain rate. At quasi-static rates, the monodomain soft-elastic LCE dissipated 45% of strain energy while comparator materials dissipated less than 20%. At strain rates up to 3000 s−1, our soft-elastic monodomain LCE consistently performed closest to an ideal-impact absorber. Drop testing reveals soft-elasticity as a likely mechanism for effectively reducing the severity of impacts – with soft elastic LCEs offering a Gadd Severity Index 40% lower than a comparable isotropic elastomer. Lastly, we demonstrate tailoring deformation and buckling behavior in monodomain LCEs via the printed director orientation.

scholarly journals Soft Elasticity in Main Chain Liquid Crystal Elastomers

Crystals ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonal Dey ◽  
Dena Agra-Kooijman ◽  
Wanting Ren ◽  
Philip McMullan ◽  
Anselm Griffin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Main Chain ◽  
Soft Elasticity ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomers

scholarly journals New insights into the nature of semi-soft elasticity and “mechanical-Fréedericksz transitions” in liquid crystal elastomers

Soft Matter ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 1301-1310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devesh Mistry ◽  
Philip B. Morgan ◽  
John H. Clamp ◽  
Helen F. Gleeson
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Order Parameter ◽  
Freedericksz Transition ◽  
Load Curve ◽  
Fréedericksz Transition ◽  
Soft Elasticity ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomers

Previously unseen coincidence of a semi-soft elastic-like load curve with a “mechanical-Fréedericksz transition” and negative liquid crystal order parameter (S).

scholarly journals Numerical study of liquid crystal elastomers by a mixed finite element method

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. LUO ◽  
M. C. CALDERER
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Mixed Finite Element ◽  
Mixed Finite Element Method ◽  
Singular Values ◽  
Stripe Domain ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomer ◽  
Soft Elasticity ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomers ◽  
Material Constraints

Liquid crystal elastomers present features not found in ordinary elastic materials, such as semi-soft elasticity and the related stripe domain phenomenon. In this paper, the two-dimensional Bladon–Terentjev–Warner model and the one-constant Oseen–Frank energy expression are combined to study the liquid crystal elastomer. We also impose two material constraints, the incompressibility of the elastomer and the unit director norm of the liquid crystal. We prove existence of minimiser of the energy for the proposed model. Next we formulate the discrete model, and also prove that it possesses a minimiser of the energy. The inf-sup values of the discrete linearised system are then related to the smallest singular values of certain matrices. Next the existence and uniqueness of the Lagrange multipliers associated with the two material constraints are proved under the assumption that the inf-sup conditions hold. Finally numerical simulations of the clamped-pulling experiment are presented for elastomer samples with aspect ratio 1 or 3. The semi-soft elasticity is successfully recovered in both cases. The stripe domain phenomenon, however, is not observed, which might be due to the relative coarse mesh employed in the numerical experiment. Possible improvements are discussed that might lead to the recovery of the stripe domain phenomenon.

Mechano‐Optical Sensors Fabricated with Multilayered Liquid Crystal Elastomers Exhibiting Tunable Deformation Recovery

2021 ◽  
pp. 2104702
Author(s):  
Kyohei Hisano ◽  
Seiya Kimura ◽  
Kyosun Ku ◽  
Tomoki Shigeyama ◽  
Norihisa Akamatsu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Optical Sensors ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomers ◽  
Deformation Recovery

Thermomechanically active electrodes power work-dense soft actuators

Soft Matter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angel Martinez ◽  
Arul Clement ◽  
Junfeng Gao ◽  
Julia Kocherzat ◽  
Mohsen Tabrizi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Crystal ◽  
Liquid Metal ◽  
Chain Extender ◽  
Design Work ◽  
Liquid Crystal Elastomers ◽  
Soft Actuators ◽  
Dense Liquid

The effect of chain extender structure and composition on the properties of liquid crystal elastomers (LCE) is presented. Compositions are optimized to design work-dense liquid metal LCE composites that are operated with 100 mW power.

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