Deformations and Buckling in LCE Films

Liquid crystalline elastomer (LCE) devices represent a versatile material for actuators and soft robotics, capable of exhibiting large shape changes in response to heat or light stimuli. Practical applications require a thorough understanding of how these stimuli control and regulate LCE deformations. We use a combination of finite element modelling and semi-anaylitical methods to predict the out-of-plane buckling behavior of LCE strips and sheets. Building off of prior work on one-dimensional ssytems, we show how buckling can be controlled by light position and intensity, and used to reveal information encoded in the LCE device in the form of patterns in the nematic director.