Large deformation analysis of spontaneous twist and contraction in nematic elastomer fibers with helical director

Abstract

A cylindrical rubber fiber subject to a twist will also elongate: a manifestation of Poynting’s effect in large strain elasticity. Here, we construct an analogous treatment for an active rubber fiber actuated via an axisymmetric pattern of spontaneous distortion. We start by constructing an exact large-deformation solution to the equations of elasticity for such fiber subject to imposed twist and stretch, which reveals spontaneous warping and twisting of the fiber cross section absent in passive rubbers. We then compute the corresponding non-linear elastic energy, which encompasses the Poynting effect but is minimized by a finite spontaneous twist and stretch. In the second half of the paper, we apply these results to understand the twist-contraction actuation of nematic elastomer fibers fabricated with director fields that encode helical patterns of contraction on heating. We first consider patterns making a constant angle with respect to the local cylindrical coordinate system (conical spiral director curves) and verify the predicted spontaneous twist, contraction, and cross-section deformation via finite elements. Second, we consider realistic director distributions for the experimentally reported fibers fabricated by cross-linking while simultaneously applying stretch and twist. Counterintuitively, we find that the maximum actuation twist is produced by applying a finite optimal twist during fabrication. Finally, we illustrate that spontaneously twisting fibers will coil into spring-like shapes on actuation if the ends are prevented from twisting relative to each other. Such a twist–torsion coupling would allow us to make a tendril-like “soft-spring” actuator with low force and high linear stroke compared to the intrinsic contraction of the elastomer itself.