Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio 45433, USA.
Azimuth Corporation, Beavercreek, Ohio 45431, USA.
Phys Rev E. 2018 Jan;97(1-1):012504. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.97.012504.
The shape of liquid crystalline elastomers (LCEs) with spatial variation in the director orientation can be transformed by exposure to a stimulus. Here, informed by previously reported analytical treatments, we prepare complex spiral patterns imprinted into LCEs and quantify the resulting shape transformation. Quantification of the stimuli-induced shapes reveals good agreement between predicted and experimentally observed curvatures. We conclude this communication by reporting a design strategy to allow LCE films to be anchored at their external boundaries onto rigid substrates without incurring internal, mechanical-mismatch stresses upon actuation, a critical advance to the realization of shape transformation of LCEs in practical device applications.
具有空间变化的各向异性向列型液晶弹性体（LCE）的形状可以通过暴露于刺激而转变。在这里，根据之前报道的分析处理方法，我们制备了复杂的螺旋图案压印到 LCE 中，并定量研究了由此产生的形状转变。刺激诱导的形状的定量分析表明，预测和实验观察到的曲率之间具有良好的一致性。我们通过报告一种设计策略来结束本通讯，该策略允许 LCE 薄膜在其外部边界处固定在刚性基板上，而在致动时不会产生内部机械失配应力，这是在实际设备应用中实现 LCE 形状转变的关键进展。
