Strain Analysis of a Chiral Smectic A Elastomer
Abstract
We present a detailed analysis of the molecular packing of a strained liquid crystal elastomer composed of chiral mesogens in the smectic A phase. X-ray diffraction patterns of the elastomer collected over a range of orientations with respect to the X-ray beam were used to reconstruct the three-dimensional scattering intensity as a function of tensile strain. For the first time, we show that the smectic domain order is preserved in these strained elastomers. Changes in the intensity within a given scattering plane are due to reorientation, and not loss, of the molecular order in directions orthogonal to the applied strain. Incorporating the physical parameters of the elastomer, a nonlinear elastic model is presented to describe the rotation of the smectic-layered domains under strain, thus providing a fundamental analysis to the mechanical response of these unique materials.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1008.5343,
title = {Strain Analysis of a Chiral Smectic A Elastomer},
author = {Christopher M. Spillmann and John H. Konnert and James M. Adams and Jeffrey R. Deschamps and Jawad Naciri and Banahalli R. Ratna},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1008.5343},
year = {2010}
}
Comments
28 Pages