IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v12y2021i1d10.1038_s41467-021-27013-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Soft elasticity optimises dissipation in 3D-printed liquid crystal elastomers

Author

Listed:
  • D. Mistry

    (University of Colorado Denver
    University of Leeds)

  • N. A. Traugutt

    (University of Colorado Denver
    Desktop Health)

  • B. Sanborn

    (Materials and Failure Modeling Department, Sandia National Laboratories)

  • R. H. Volpe

    (Impressio Inc., 12635 E. Montview Blvd, Suite 214)

  • L. S. Chatham

    (Impressio Inc., 12635 E. Montview Blvd, Suite 214)

  • R. Zhou

    (University of Colorado Denver)

  • B. Song

    (Materials and Failure Modeling Department, Sandia National Laboratories)

  • K. Yu

    (University of Colorado Denver)

  • K. N. Long

    (Materials and Failure Modeling Department, Sandia National Laboratories)

  • C. M. Yakacki

    (University of Colorado Denver
    Impressio Inc., 12635 E. Montview Blvd, Suite 214)

Abstract

Soft-elasticity in monodomain liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) is promising for impact-absorbing applications where strain energy is ideally absorbed at constant stress. Conventionally, compressive and impact studies on LCEs have not been performed given the notorious difficulty synthesizing sufficiently large monodomain devices. Here, we use direct-ink writing 3D printing to fabricate bulk (>cm3) monodomain LCE devices and study their compressive soft-elasticity over 8 decades of strain rate. At quasi-static rates, the monodomain soft-elastic LCE dissipated 45% of strain energy while comparator materials dissipated less than 20%. At strain rates up to 3000 s−1, our soft-elastic monodomain LCE consistently performed closest to an ideal-impact absorber. Drop testing reveals soft-elasticity as a likely mechanism for effectively reducing the severity of impacts – with soft elastic LCEs offering a Gadd Severity Index 40% lower than a comparable isotropic elastomer. Lastly, we demonstrate tailoring deformation and buckling behavior in monodomain LCEs via the printed director orientation.

Suggested Citation

  • D. Mistry & N. A. Traugutt & B. Sanborn & R. H. Volpe & L. S. Chatham & R. Zhou & B. Song & K. Yu & K. N. Long & C. M. Yakacki, 2021. "Soft elasticity optimises dissipation in 3D-printed liquid crystal elastomers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-27013-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27013-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27013-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-021-27013-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Takuya Ohzono & Kaoru Katoh & Hiroyuki Minamikawa & Mohand O. Saed & Eugene M. Terentjev, 2021. "Internal constraints and arrested relaxation in main-chain nematic elastomers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-10, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Qingrui Wang & Xiaoyong Tian & Daokang Zhang & Yanli Zhou & Wanquan Yan & Dichen Li, 2023. "Programmable spatial deformation by controllable off-center freestanding 4D printing of continuous fiber reinforced liquid crystal elastomer composites," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Yu Cang & Jiaqi Liu & Meguya Ryu & Bartlomiej Graczykowski & Junko Morikawa & Shu Yang & George Fytas, 2022. "On the origin of elasticity and heat conduction anisotropy of liquid crystal elastomers at gigahertz frequencies," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Huan Jiang & Christopher Chung & Martin L. Dunn & Kai Yu, 2024. "4D printing of liquid crystal elastomer composites with continuous fiber reinforcement," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Xiaolu Sun & Shaoyun Chen & Bo Qu & Rui Wang & Yanyu Zheng & Xiaoying Liu & Wenjie Li & Jianhong Gao & Qinhui Chen & Dongxian Zhuo, 2023. "Light-oriented 3D printing of liquid crystal/photocurable resins and in-situ enhancement of mechanical performance," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Matej Bobnar & Nikita Derets & Saide Umerova & Valentina Domenici & Nikola Novak & Marta Lavrič & George Cordoyiannis & Boštjan Zalar & Andraž Rešetič, 2023. "Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal elastomers as moldable shape-programmable material," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Xiaofang Zhang & Saewon Kang & Katarina Adstedt & Minkyu Kim & Rui Xiong & Juan Yu & Xinran Chen & Xulin Zhao & Chunhong Ye & Vladimir V. Tsukruk, 2022. "Uniformly aligned flexible magnetic films from bacterial nanocelluloses for fast actuating optical materials," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-27013-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.