Controllable bistable smart composite structures driven by liquid crystal elastomer

Abstract

In this article, we proposed a new way to achieve monostable and bistable characteristics of composite layers based on liquid crystal elastomer (LCE). A smart trilayer composite structure is fabricated using LCE and acrylic elastomer, which can have several morphologies. It keeps flat at room temperature and can deform into a monostable saddle or bistable cylinder surface in response to simple temperature changes. The reversible deformation can be controlled through two parameters including geometrical size and actuation strain. The LCE can be programmed to generate different actuation strains by different formulas during synthesis or different mechanical stretches during UV radiation. The deformed morphology for different sample sizes and actuation strain is calculated using Finite element simulation. By comparison with the experimental results, we confirm that the phenomena can be captured through numerical simulations. Furthermore, to have a quantitative understanding, we use numerical simulation to calculate the deformation of the composite structure by tuning these two parameters and give a morphological portrait illustrating the relationship between the deformed shape and control parameters.