A simple analytical thermo-mechanical model for liquid crystal elastomer bilayer structures
Source abstract
Abstract
The bilayer structure consisting of thermal-responsive liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) and other polymer materials with stretchable heaters has attracted much attention in applications of soft actuators and soft robots due to its ability to generate large deformations when subjected to heat stimuli. A simple analytical thermo-mechanical model, accounting for the non-uniform feature of the temperature/strain distribution along the thickness direction, is established for this type of bilayer structure. The analytical predictions of the temperature and bending curvature radius agree well with finite element analysis and experiments. The influences of the LCE thickness and the heat generation power on the bending deformation of the bilayer structure are fully investigated. It is shown that a thinner LCE layer and a higher heat generation power could yield more bending deformation. These results may help the design of soft actuators and soft robots involving thermal responsive LCEs.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Advanced Materials and Mechanics · Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials · Polymer composites and self-healing
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Institute of Solid Mechanics, Beihang University (BUAA) 1 , Beijing 100191, China
Key Laboratory of Soft Machines and Smart Devices of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University 2 , Hangzhou 310027, China
Department of Engineering Mechanics and Soft Matter Research Center, Zhejiang University 3 , Hangzhou 310027, China
Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of Houston 4 , Houston, TX 77204, USA
State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology 5 , Wuhan 430074, China
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Houston 6 , Houston, TX 77204, USA
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Houston 7 , Houston, TX 77204, USA
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Houston 8 , Houston, TX 77204, USA
Funding
The National Basic Research Program of China · National Natural Science Foundation of China
References (36)
Show source-provided references
1. Isotropic-nematic transition in liquid-crystalline elastomers10.1103/physrevlett.89.225701 ↗
2. Nematic elastomers—A new state of matter?10.1016/s0079-6700(96)00013-5 ↗
3. Liquid-crystalline elastomers10.1088/0953-8984/11/24/201 ↗
4. Photodriven, flexural–torsional oscillation of glassy azobenzene liquid crystal polymer networks10.1002/adfm.201100333 ↗
5. Linear and nonlinear photoinduced deformations of cantilevers10.1103/physrevlett.99.174302 ↗
6. Large amplitude light-induced motion in high elastic modulus polymer actuators10.1039/b512655j ↗
7. Light-activated shape memory of glassy, azobenzene liquid crystalline polymer networks10.1039/c1sm00004g ↗
8. Voxelated liquid crystal elastomers10.1126/science.1261019 ↗
9. Temperature-memory polymer actuators10.1073/pnas.1301895110 ↗
10. Programmable and adaptive mechanics with liquid crystal polymer networks and elastomers10.1038/nmat4433 ↗
11. Thermal characterisation of thermotropic nematic liquid-crystalline elastomers10.1080/02678292.2015.1066888 ↗
12. Shape changes in chemoresponsive liquid crystal elastomers10.1016/j.snb.2016.09.004 ↗
13. Self-assembled shape-memory fibers of triblock liquid-crystal polymers10.1002/adfm.200500692 ↗
14. Liquid crystal elastomers with mechanical properties of a muscle10.1021/ma001639q ↗
15. Iris-like tunable aperture employing liquid-crystal elastomers10.1002/adma.201402878 ↗
16. Dynamic high contrast reflective coloration from responsive polymer/cholesteric liquid crystal architectures10.1039/c1sm05980g ↗
17. Volume phase transition of liquid crystalline gels in a nematic solvent10.1021/ma020135k ↗
18. Mouldable liquid-crystalline elastomer actuators with exchangeable covalent bonds10.1038/nmat3812 ↗
19. Tunable photocontrolled motions using stored strain energy in malleable azobenzene liquid crystalline polymer actuators10.1002/adma.201606467 ↗
20. Soft actuators for small-scale robotics10.1002/adma.201603483 ↗
21. Muscular MEMS-the engineering of liquid crystal elastomer actuators10.1088/0964-1726/25/8/085010 ↗
22. Smart artificial muscle actuators: Liquid crystal elastomers with integrated temperature feedback10.1016/j.sna.2014.10.014 ↗
23. Ultrathin Alvarez lens system actuated by artificial muscles10.1364/ao.55.002718 ↗
24. Electronically innervated adaptive fully soft robots
25. Liquid single crystal elastomer/conducting polymer bilayer composite actuator: Modelling and experiments10.1039/c3sm51153g ↗
26. Dual-responsive, shape-switching bilayers enabled by liquid crystal elastomers10.1039/c7sm00541e ↗
27. A series solution of the fin problem with a temperature-dependent thermal conductivity10.1016/j.cnsns.2008.11.004 ↗
28. Biothermomechanics of skin tissues10.1016/j.jmps.2007.11.011 ↗
29. Modeling of elastic deformation of multilayers due to residual stresses and external bending10.1063/1.1478137 ↗
30. Curvature estimation for multilayer hinged structures with initial strains10.1063/1.1610777 ↗
31. Electronically programmable, reversible shape change in two- and three-dimensional hydrogel structures10.1002/adma.201204180 ↗
32. Tactile device based on opto-mechanical actuation of liquid crystal elastomers10.1016/j.sna.2014.01.012 ↗
33. Dupont™ · 2017
34. Thermo-mechanical evolution of multilayer thin films: Part I. Mechanical behavior of Au/Cr/Si microcantilevers10.1016/j.tsf.2006.01.046 ↗
35. Deformation-pattern-based digital speckle correlation for coefficient of thermal expansion evaluation of film10.1364/oe.19.017469 ↗
36. 1996