Proutorov Evgenii, Matsuyama Naoki, Koibuchi Hiroshi
Cherepovets State University, Pr. Lunacharskii 5, 162600, Cherepovets, Russia.
J Phys Condens Matter. 2018 Oct 10;30(40):405101. doi: 10.1088/1361-648X/aadcba. Epub 2018 Aug 24.
The shape transformation of liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) under external electric fields is studied through Monte Carlo simulations of models constructed on the basis of Finsler geometry (FG). For polydomain side-chain-type LCEs, it is well known that the external-field-driven alignment of the director is accompanied by an anisotropic shape deformation. However, the mechanism of this deformation is quantitatively still unclear in some part and should be studied further from the microscopic perspective. In this paper, we evaluate whether this shape deformation is successfully simulated, or in other words, quantitatively understood, by the FG model. The FG assumed inside the material is closely connected to the directional degrees of freedom of LC molecules and plays an essential role in the anisotropic transformation. We find that the existing experimental data on the deformations of polydomain LCEs are in good agreement with the Monte Carlo results. It is also found that experimental diagrams of strain versus external voltage of a monodomain LCE in the nematic phase are well described by the FG model.
通过基于芬斯勒几何（FG）构建的模型进行蒙特卡罗模拟，研究了外部电场作用下液晶弹性体（LCE）的形状转变。对于多畴侧链型LCE，众所周知，指向矢在外场驱动下的取向伴随着各向异性的形状变形。然而，这种变形的机制在某些方面在定量上仍不清楚，应从微观角度进一步研究。在本文中，我们评估这种形状变形是否能通过FG模型成功模拟，或者换句话说，能否在定量上得到理解。假设存在于材料内部的FG与液晶分子的方向自由度紧密相关，并且在各向异性转变中起着至关重要的作用。我们发现，关于多畴LCE变形的现有实验数据与蒙特卡罗结果吻合良好。还发现，FG模型能很好地描述向列相下单畴LCE的应变与外部电压的实验图表。
