光敏液晶高弹体梁光致弯曲的特性研究

光敏液晶高弹体是一类新型智能材料,它兼有液晶和橡胶的特性,可以同时由光、热实现驱动,具有广阔的应用前景.本文着重研究了光敏液晶高弹体梁的光致弯曲特性,根据该材料的一维线性化本构关系,在小变形假设下,用简单梁理论得到了光致弯曲模型.将光照的效应等价为一等效力矩,分析了各种参数对其的影响规律,得到了自由梁弯曲曲率和超静定梁约束反力的解析表达式,并计算了梁内应力分布及中性面的个数.结果表明,各种参量对弯曲的影响相互耦合,显现出非线性性;液晶高弹体光致弯曲存在两个或三个中性面,应力分布与通常的梁弯曲有很大不同.     

四边简支液晶高弹体薄板光致弯曲行为分析

光敏液晶弹性体在紫外光的照射下可以发生自发性的弯曲变形.基于各向同性线弹性材料小变形假设,建立了单畴向列相光敏液晶弹性体薄板的光致弯曲模型.通过定义光力矩,将光的效应引入挠度的控制方程和边界条件.均匀光照下,给出了四边简支边界条件下的挠度解析表达式,探讨了相关参数对弯曲行为的影响.均匀照射下,光场参数对单畴向列相液晶弹...     

单轴拉伸下液晶高弹体力学行为的热力序耦合特性

本文利用液晶高弹体的应力－应变本构方程和力－序耦合方程,研究了沿指向矢单轴拉伸下液晶高弹体力学行为的热力序耦合特性。由于力－序耦合,有序度在拉伸作用下变大,从而影响了液晶高弹体的应力－应变关系,使得应力在相同伸长下变小。不同温度下应力受到有序度变化影响的程度不同.由于有序度随温度升高而减小,当工程应力不变时,伸长随着温度升高而减小;当伸长不变时,应力随着温度升高而增大;伸长随温度的变化关系和应力随温度的变化关系都呈非线性。     

小攻角条件下动能弹体高速侵彻混凝土靶的弹体弯曲

将高速侵彻混凝土靶板的弹体简化为自由梁,应用弹体侵彻阻力和梁动态弯曲内力分析了由小攻 角产生的横向载荷导致的弹体弯曲。结果表明,弹体理论弯曲条件受弹体着靶前状态、弹体结构和材料控制。 理论计算证实弹体高速侵彻混凝土靶板时由于小攻角的存在会发生弹体弯曲变形,弹体侵彻实验结果表明 弹体弯曲位置和弯曲条件与理论分析结果相符。     

椭圆截面截卵形刚性弹体正贯穿加筋板能量耗散分析

为获得椭圆截面截卵形刚性弹体正贯穿加筋板的剩余速度，根据椭圆截面弹体贯穿靶板的破坏特征，认为贯穿过程中靶板的能量耗散方式主要为塞块剪切变形功与塞块动能、扩孔塑性变形功、花瓣动力功、花瓣弯曲变形功、靶板整体凹陷变形功、加强筋侧向凹陷变形功。推导了每种能量计算方法，计算中定量考虑了靶板扩孔、花瓣弯曲、凹陷变形的应变率效应。根据能量守恒关系，得到了椭圆截面弹体剩余速度和弹道极限速度预测公式。并通过实验结果对模型进行了验证。结果表明:考虑靶板应变硬化、应变率效应的贯穿模型可以准确预测弹体剩余速度；随着椭圆截面弹体长短轴之比的增大，靶板的弹道极限速度近似线性增大；长短轴之比小于3时，加筋板的主要耗能为花瓣弯曲变形能、整体凹陷变形能。     

椭圆截面侵彻弹体结构优化设计与结构响应

针对异型截面侵彻弹体的工程应用需求,围绕椭圆截面侵彻弹体结构响应及优化设计问题开展研究。引入无量纲壁厚系数,改进了椭圆截面弹体参数化表达式;以提高短轴惯性矩和静矩、降低短轴方向结构响应为目标,开展了椭圆截面弹体抗弯优化设计。基于152 mm口径轻气炮开展了椭圆截面弹体反弹道侵彻试验研究,获得了软回收试验弹体的弯曲挠度结果;开展了试验工况的数值模拟研究,提取了数值模拟中弹体的变形结果;建立了椭圆截面侵彻弹体弯曲结构响应计算模型,利用此模型对试验弹体变形情况进行了计算。与原椭圆截面弹体相比,优化后截面短轴惯性矩、静矩提高比例约为16%,试验弹体弯曲挠度降低比例约为25.3%,数值模拟及理论模型计算结果与试验结果较为相符,验证了本文优化设计方法的有效性,可为工程设计提供参考。     

弹体高速侵彻混凝土的效应实验

利用高速侵彻设备进行了不同条件下弹体高速侵彻混凝土系列实验,探讨了高速撞击条件下弹体 侵彻能力、弹体侵彻稳定性、弹体变形和破坏等问题,揭示了混凝土中半流体侵彻阶段的典型特征:刚体侵彻 深度上限和对应的刚体侵彻初速上限、弹道弯曲、弹体严重侵蚀且伴随弯曲/断裂等。     

斜侵彻混凝土靶的刻槽弹体的结构响应

基于刚塑性理论和侵彻载荷理论分析，将刻槽弹体简化为空间自由变截面梁，给出了弹体在侵彻混凝土早期的刚体响应行为，得到了弹体任一截面弯矩、剪力以及屈服函数的分布规律。基于此理论分析，得到了刻槽弹体壁厚、材料屈服强度、初速及倾角对弹体弯曲的影响规律。     

在冲击弹体作用下梁的反直观行为研究

用数值模拟方法,分析简支梁在弹体冲击下梁的反直观行为.研究了在跨中受弹体冲击引发反直观行为时,梁的位移时程曲线、最终变形模式、能量关系及引发反直观行为对应的弹体速度范围等特性.并探讨了弹体偏离梁的中点冲击时,对梁的反直观行为的影响.研究表明:不论弹体冲击梁的中点或偏离梁的中点冲击时,梁都会发生反直观行为,并具有许多共同的动力响应特点.     

动能深侵彻弹的力学设计(I): 侵彻/穿甲理论和弹体壁厚分析

在作者先前工作的基础上，进一步明确了适合于动能深侵彻弹的撞击函数和弹体几何函数的有效范围，可用于相关弹体结构的力学设计。同时从理论上研究了弹体的抗压/拉和抗弯能力，分别从抗压/拉和抗弯两方面来确定动能深侵彻弹弹体的极限壁厚。针对不同撞击速度的细长中空弹体斜侵彻混凝土靶，分析得到不出现弯曲破坏的弹体最大临界斜角和壳体壁厚下限，并给出弹体抗弯能力的最薄弱位置。对弹体的壳体厚度、局部加固和焊接位置提出建议。     

Quasi-soft opto-mechanical behavior of photochromic liquid crystal elastomer: Linearized stress–strain relations and finite element simulations

Based on the neo-classical elastic energy of liquid crystal elastomers, the opto-mechanical behavior is modeled by considering the effect of photoisomerization on the nematic-isotropic transition of liquid crystal phase. Linearized stress–strain relation is derived for infinitesimal deformations with a very unusual shear stress that does not vanish identically as in the case of the soft behavior but is proportional to the rotation of directors. In other words, the shear stress depends on both the shear strain and the skew symmetric part of the displacement gradient with the shear modulus induced by the effect of photoisomerization. Finite element implementation for plane stress problems is obtained through a self-defined material subroutine in ABAQUS FEA tool. Numerical simulations show that the light induced deformations of two dimensional specimens consist of contractions, expansions and bending in different directions. The stress distributions indicate that the driving force for the light induced bending is produced by the bending moment of the normal stress along the director, while the other stress components are much smaller for two dimensional beam shaped specimens. However, the shear stress of the soft LCE is generally nonzero under light illumination due to the inhomogeneity of the opto-mechanical effect. It can be concluded from the strain distributions that the transversal plane cross section could remain plane after deformation if the light intensity or the decay distance is not too small and the sample is in the deep nematic phase. However, the shear strain and in plane rotation are of the same order as the other strain components, and thus should not be neglected. This indicates that the classical simple bending assumptions such as the Euler–Bernoulli beam theory should not be directly applied to model the light induced bending of neo-classical liquid crystal elastomers due to the soft behavior of the materials.     

Thermomechanical modeling of the thermo-order-mechanical coupling behaviors in liquid crystal elastomers

Liquid crystal elastomer is a kind of anisotropic polymeric material, with complicated micro-structures and thermo-order-mechanical coupling behaviors. In this paper, we propose a method to systematically model these coupling behaviors. We derive the constitutive model in full tensor structure according to the Clausius-Duhem inequality. Two of the constitutive equations represent the mechanical equilibrium and the other two represent the phase equilibrium. Choosing the total free energy as the combination of the neo-classical free energy and the Landau-de Gennes nematic free energy, we obtain the Cauchy stress-deformation gradient relation and the order-mechanical coupling equations. We find the analytical homogeneous solutions of the deformation for the typical mechanical loadings, such as uniaxial stretch, and simple shear in any directions. We also compare the compression behavior of prolate liquid crystal elastomers with the stretch behavior of oblate liquid crystal elastomers. As a result, the stress, strain, temperature, order parameter, biaxiality and the direction of the director of liquid crystal elastomers couple with each other. When the prolate liquid crystal elastomer sample is stretched in the direction parallel to its director, the deviatoric stress makes the mesogens more order and increase the transition temperature. When the sample is sheared or stretched in the direction non-parallel to the director, the director of the liquid crystal elastomer will rotate, and the biaxiality will be induced. Because of the order-mechanical coupling, under infinitesimal deformation, liquid crystal elastomer has anisotropic Young’s modulus and zero shear modulus in the direction parallel or perpendicular to the director. While for the oblate liquid crystal elastomers, the stretch parallel to the director will cause the rotation of the director and induce the biaxiality.     

Transient thermo-mechanical analysis for bimorph soft robot based on thermally responsive liquid crystal elastomers

Thermally responsive liquid crystal elastomers(LCEs) hold great promise in applications of soft robots and actuators because of the induced size and shape change with temperature. Experiments have successfully demonstrated that the LCE based bimorphs can be effective soft robots once integrated with soft sensors and thermal actuators. Here, we present an analytical transient thermo-mechanical model for a bimorph structure based soft robot, which consists of a strip of LCE and a thermal inert polymer actuated by an ultra-thin stretchable open-mesh shaped heater to mimic the unique locomotion behaviors of an inchworm. The coupled mechanical and thermal analysis based on the thermo-mechanical theory is carried out to underpin the transient bending behavior, and a systematic understanding is therefore achieved. The key analytical results reveal that the thickness and the modulus ratio of the LCE and the inert polymer layer dominate the transient bending deformation. The analytical results will not only render fundamental understanding of the actuation of bimorph structures, but also facilitate the rational design of soft robotics.     

Stress-free layers in photoinduced deformations of photoelastomer beams

Nematic liquid crystals combined with long molecular chains to form liquid crystal elastomers are capable of large extension. When such liquid crystal elastomers contain azo dyes to constitute photoelastomers, illumination can trigger large contraction. Beams made from such photoelastomers possess a non-uniform illumination and hence photostrain across their cross-section, resulting in bending and highly non-linear stress distribution. Due to the non-linear stress distribution, there can be more than one stress-free layers within the beam. In this paper, we present a dimensionless parametric study of nematic photoelastomer beams under the combined effects of light and mechanical loads. We show how the number of stress-free layers depends on three dimensionless parameters. The paths traced out by the system in the space of dimensionless parameters by varying the different real parameters are investigated, showing how the number of stress-free layers changes when e.g. the thickness or the mechanical load of the elastomer beam is varied. These results are important if the strain induced director rotation is not negligible.     

A gradient model of light-induced bending in photochromic liquid crystal elastomer and its nonlinear behaviors

Photochromic liquid crystal elastomer was recently reported to be able to deform largely and bend under illumination. In this paper, considering the opto-chemical process and the nematic-isotropic phase transition, we introduce the light and temperature into the constitutive relation of the liquid crystal elastomers, and propose a model for the light-induced bending. The dynamic deflection curve equation of the light-induced bending is derived based on the Hamilton principle. In the equation, the effect of light is introduced as an effective optical bending moment, which is caused by the inhomogeneous light-induced strain and Young's modulus. Several simulation examples are given to show the light-induced bending under different boundary conditions and various illumination or temperature controlling. Under the condition of deep nematic phase and weak enough illumination, the approximate analytical expression of the effective moment and the stress distribution can be obtained. Rich nonlinear behaviors are found in this model. The effective moment is a non-monotonic function of time, thickness ratio, and light intensity when the thickness ratio is not very large. The stress distribution through the thickness is nonlinear with two or three zero-stress planes.     

BIAXIAL LOADING OF NEO-CLASSICAL LIQUID CRYSTAL ELASTOMERS:CONSTITUTIVE RELATIONS AND SOFT BEHAVIOR

The thermo-order-mechanical behaviors of liquid crystal elastomers(LCEs) under biaxial loading are studied in this paper.Inverse method for nonlinear elastic problems is utilized by imposing biaxial stretching to thin rectangular samples.Neo-classical elastic energy is used together with the Landau-de Gennes nematic free energy.Under plane stress assumptions,the constitutive equations are derived.Due to the possible reorientations of the liquid crystal molecules induced by the imposed biaxial loading,the in-plane nonlinear stress-strain relations can have different expressions depending on which loading axis will have the largest effective principal strain.And the free energy is a multi-well non-convex potential function.As shown by some typical loading paths,the LCE samples will exhibit an anisotropic nonlinear elastic behavior,as long as the loading has not induced a reorientation of the liquid crystal molecules.When this did occur,jumps of stresses could take place for dead loadings due to the losing of stability.     

Sub-stripe pattern formation in liquid crystal elastomers: Experimental observations and numerical simulations

We report on some new experimental observations of pattern formation during stretching experiments of nematic liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs).     

Unsteadiness of the internal flow in an effervescent atomizer nozzle

Liquid atomization system has been extensively applied as the most significant process in many industrial fields. In the internal combustion engine, the combustion phenomenon is strongly influenced by the spray characteristics of the fuel given by the atomization process. In order to completely understand the whole atomization process, a detail investigation of relations between the liquid jet characteristics and the breakup phenomenon is required. In this study, a non-intrusive method called as laser tagging method by photochromic dye has been developed with aim to study the breakup process of liquid sheet in detail, covering from the behavior in film until disintegrated into ligament and droplets. The laser tagging method by photochromic dye is based on a shift in the absorption spectrum of photochromic dye molecules tagged by ultraviolet laser. The shift results a color change at the tagged region of liquid containing the dye. In this study, the motions of the dye traces were analyzed as the liquid surface velocity. As a result, liquid sheet was found to keep its velocity constantly in film before suddenly increase around broken point. However, it then decreased after broken into droplets. By forming a set of four points of dye traces on the liquid sheet, the change of relative position of the set enabled the measurement of deformation and rotational motion of the liquid sheet. As a result, the normal strain of the liquid sheet parallel to the flow direction depended on the flow behavior of ligament formation.