Shape Morphing of Planar Liquid Crystal Elastomers

Daniel Castro, Hillel Aharoni

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We consider planar liquid crystal elastomers: two-dimensional objects made of anisotropic responsive materials that remain flat when stimulated, however change their planar shape. We derive a closed form, analytical solution based on the implicit linearity featured by this subclass of deformations. Our solution provides the nematic director field on an arbitrary domain starting with two initial director curves. We discuss the different gauge choices for this problem and the inclusion of disclinations in the nematic order. Finally, we propose several applications and useful design principles based on this theoretical framework.
Original languageEnglish
Article number178101
Number of pages6
JournalPhysical review letters
Volume130
Issue number17
DOIs
StatePublished - 28 Apr 2023

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