Fracture and fatigue characteristics of monodomain and polydomain liquid crystal elastomers.

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs), a class of elastomers combining liquid crystals with a polymer network, have garnered significant interest for applications in the field of soft robotics. However, the fracture and fatigue characteristics of LCEs remain poorly understood. This study presents a comprehensive investigation into the fracture and fatigue characteristics of LCEs, focusing on polydomain and monodomain variants subjected to different loading directions.

Programming Soft Shape-Morphing Systems by Harnessing Strain Mismatch and Snap-Through Bistability: A Review.

Multi-modal and controllable shape-morphing constitutes the cornerstone of the functionalization of soft actuators/robots. Involving heterogeneity through material layout is a widely used strategy to generate internal mismatches in active morphing structures. Once triggered by external stimuli, the entire structure undergoes cooperative deformation by minimizing the potential energy.