Liquid crystal elastomer self-oscillator with embedded light source.

Abstract

Light sources that switch periodically over time have a wide range of application value in life and engineering, and generally require additional controller to periodically switch circuits to achieve periodic lighting. In this paper, a self-oscillating spring oscillator based on optically responsive liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) fiber is constructed, which consists of a embedded light source and a LCE fiber. The spring oscillator can oscillate autonomously to achieve periodic switching of the light source. On the basis of the well-established dynamic LCE model, a nonlinear dynamic model is proposed and its dynamic behavior is studied. Numerical calculations demonstrate that the spring oscillator presents two motion regimes, namely the self-oscillation regime and the static regime. The self-oscillation of spring oscillator is maintained by the energy competition between light energy and damping dissipation. Furthermore, the critical conditions for triggering self-oscillation are also investigated in detail, as well as the key system parameters that affect its frequency and amplitude. Different from the existing abundant self-oscillating systems, this self-oscillating structure with simple structure and convenient fabrication does not require complex controller to obtain periodic lighting, and it is expected to provide more diversified design ideas for soft robots and sensors.