Modeling and simulation of liquid-crystal elastomers.

Modeling elastic instabilities in nematic elastomers.

Liquid crystal elastomers are cross-linked polymer networks covalently bonded with liquid crystal mesogens. In the nematic phase, due to strong coupling between mechanical strain and orientational order, these materials display strain-induced instabilities associated with formation and evolution of orientational domains. Using a three-dimensional finite element elastodynamics simulation, we inv...

Chapter 4 Wang-Landau Monte Carlo simulation of nematic-isotropic transition in liquid crystal elastomers

A microscopic lattice model for liquid crystal elastomers

We propose a simple coarse-grained lattice model for liquid crystal elastomers and show, through large scale Monte Carlo simulations, that it can reproduce stressstrain, order, light transmission, and other experiments, including temperature effects. We focus both on homogeneously and inhomogeneously crosslinked materials.

Modeling liquid crystal elastomers: actuators, pumps, and robots

We model the dynamics of shape evolution of liquid crystal elastomers (LCE) in three dimensions using finite element elastodynamics. The model predicts the macroscopic mechanical response induced by changes in nematic order, e.g. by heating or cooling through the isotropic/nematic transition or, in azo-doped materials, by exposure to light. We model the performance of LCE actuator devices inclu...

Modeling Defects, Shape Evolution, and Programmed Auto-Origami in Liquid Crystal Elastomers

Liquid crystal elastomers represent a novel class of programmable shape-transforming materials whose shape-change trajectory is encoded in the material’s nematic director field. Using three-dimensional non-linear finite element elastodynamics simulation, we model a variety of different actuation geometries and device designs: thin films containing topological defects, patterns that induce forma...