Xu Peibao, Wu Haiyang, Dai Yuntong, Li Kai
Department of Civil Engineering, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, PR China.
Heliyon. 2023 Mar 10;9(3):e14447. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14447. eCollection 2023 Mar.
Self-sustained chaotic system has the capability to maintain its own motion through directly absorbing energy from the steady external environment, showing extensive application potential in energy harvesters, self-cleaning, biomimetic robots, encrypted communication and other fields. In this paper, a novel light-powered chaotic self-floating system is proposed by virtue of a nonlinear spring and a liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) balloon, which is capable of self-floating under steady illumination due to self-beating. The corresponding theoretical model is formulated by combining dynamic LCE model and Newtonian dynamics. Numerical calculations show that the periodic self-floating of LCE balloon can occur under steady illumination, which is attributed to the light-powered self-beating of LCE balloon with shading coating. Furthermore, the chaotic self-floating is presented to be developed from the periodic self-floating through period doubling bifurcation. In addition, the effects of system parameters on the self-floating behaviors of the system are also investigated. The detailed calculations demonstrate that the regime of self-floating LCE balloon depends on a combination of system parameters. The chaotic self-floating system of current study may inspire the design of other chaotic self-sustained motion based on stimuli-responsive materials, and have guiding significance for energy harvesters, self-cleaning, biomimetic robots, encrypted communication and other applications.
自持混沌系统具有通过直接从稳定的外部环境吸收能量来维持自身运动的能力，在能量收集器、自清洁、仿生机器人、加密通信等领域展现出广泛的应用潜力。本文借助非线性弹簧和液晶弹性体（LCE）气球提出了一种新型光驱动混沌自漂浮系统，该系统由于自振荡能够在稳定光照下实现自漂浮。通过结合动态LCE模型和牛顿动力学建立了相应的理论模型。数值计算表明，LCE气球在稳定光照下会出现周期性自漂浮，这归因于带有遮光涂层的LCE气球的光驱动自振荡。此外，还呈现出混沌自漂浮是从周期性自漂浮通过倍周期分岔发展而来的。另外，还研究了系统参数对系统自漂浮行为的影响。详细计算表明，LCE气球的自漂浮状态取决于系统参数的组合。当前研究的混沌自漂浮系统可能会启发基于刺激响应材料的其他混沌自持运动的设计，对能量收集器、自清洁、仿生机器人、加密通信等应用具有指导意义。
