Related papers: Elastocaloric effect in amorphous polymer networks…
Liquid crystal elastomers are rubbers with liquid crystal order. They contract along their nematic director when heated or illuminated. The shape changes are large and occur in a relatively narrow temperature interval, or at low…
We describe an experimental and computational investigation of the ordered and disordered phases of a vibrating thin, dense granular layer composed of identical metal spheres. We compare the results from spheres with different amounts of…
A first-principles based effective Hamiltonian is used within a molecular dynamics simulation to study the elastocaloric effect in PbTiO3. It is found that the transition temperature is a linear function of uniaxial tensile stress. Negative…
Charge order pervades the phase diagrams of quantum materials where it competes with superconducting and magnetic phases, hosts electronic phase transitions and topological defects, and couples to the lattice generating intricate structural…
We study the kinetics of the nematic-isotropic transition in a two-dimensional liquid crystal by using a lattice Boltzmann scheme that couples the tensor order parameter and the flow consistently. Unlike in previous studies, we find the…
The temperature dependence of the elastocaloric (eC) effect in natural rubber (NR) is studied adiabatically and isothermally. A broad temperature span for eC effect from 0 oC to 49 oC is observed. The maximum adiabatic temperature change…
Nematic elastomers are programmable soft materials that display large, reversible and predictable deformation under an external stimulus such as a change in temperature or light. While much of the work in the field has focused on actuation…
Deviations of molecular shapes from spherical symmetry may give rise to a variety of novel phenomena, including their dynamic behavior. It has recently been predicted [Mazza \textit{et al}. Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{105}, 227802 (2010)] that…
Elastic interactions arising from a difference of lattice spacing between two coherent phases can have a strong influence on the phase separation (coarsening) of alloys. If the elastic moduli are different in the two phases, the elastic…
We present a study of the magnetocaloric effect in metallic systems exhibiting first-order magnetic transitions and focus on consequences of magnetic phase separation. We account for ferrimagnetic, ferromagnetic, and Neel antiferromagnetic…
We extend our earlier shear-transformation-zone (STZ) theory of amorphous plasticity to include the effects of thermally assisted molecular rearrangements. This version of our theory is a substantial revision and generalization of…
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…
Elastomers are artificial polymeric materials created for industrial and commercial applications. Depending on their purpose, they are performing in different species and structure modifications. Our studies focus on the systems of…
We introduce an entropic network model for copolymer elastomers based on the evolution of microscopic chain conformations during deformation. We show that the stress results from additive contributions due to chain stretch at the global as…
We compare the macroscopic and the local plastic behavior of a model amorphous solid based on two radically different numerical descriptions. On the one hand, we simulate glass samples by atomistic simulations. On the other, we implement a…
Cholesteric liquid crystal elastomers (CLCEs) change color under strain, offering attractive prospects for smart textiles, soft robotics, and photonic devices. However, the helical structure of CLCEs averages out the exceptional anisotropy…
Stability is an important and fruitful avenue of research for liquid crystal elastomers. At constant temperature, upon stretching, the homogeneous state of a nematic body becomes unstable, and alternating shear stripes develop at very low…
High-entropy order-disorder phase transitions can be used for efficient and eco-friendly barocaloric solid-state cooling. Here the barocaloric effect is reported in an archetypal plastic crystal, adamantane. Adamantane has a colossal…
Liquid crystals are synthetic and biological viscoelastic anisotropic soft matter materials that combine liquid fluidity with crystal anisotropy and find use in optical devices, sensor/actuators, lubrication, super-fibers. Frequently…
This work presents the mathematical modeling and numerical investigation of a thermo-controlled Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) obtained by coupling an HP memristor with mechanical and electrical resonators. Using the linear drift HP…