Mbanga Badel L, Ye Fangfu, Selinger Jonathan V, Selinger Robin L B
Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA.
Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2010 Nov;82(5 Pt 1):051701. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.82.051701. Epub 2010 Nov 1.
Liquid crystal elastomers are cross-linked polymer networks covalently bonded with liquid crystal mesogens. In the nematic phase, due to strong coupling between mechanical strain and orientational order, these materials display strain-induced instabilities associated with formation and evolution of orientational domains. Using a three-dimensional finite element elastodynamics simulation, we investigate one such instability, the onset of stripe formation in a monodomain film stretched along an axis perpendicular to the nematic director. In our simulation, we observe the formation of striped domains with alternating director rotation. This model allows us to explore the fundamental physics governing dynamic mechanical response of nematic elastomers and also provides a potentially useful computational tool for engineering device applications.
液晶弹性体是与液晶介晶共价键合的交联聚合物网络。在向列相中，由于机械应变和取向有序之间的强耦合，这些材料表现出与取向域的形成和演化相关的应变诱导不稳定性。通过三维有限元弹性动力学模拟，我们研究了一种这样的不稳定性，即在沿垂直于向列指向矢的轴拉伸的单畴薄膜中条纹形成的起始。在我们的模拟中，我们观察到具有交替指向矢旋转的条纹域的形成。该模型使我们能够探索控制向列弹性体动态力学响应的基本物理原理，并且还为工程器件应用提供了一种潜在有用的计算工具。
