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SUMMARY:EML webinar Liquid crystal elastomers - Prof. Kaushik Bhattacharay
 a's
DTSTART:20201007T140000Z
DTEND:20201007T150000Z
UID:TALK151723@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Hilde Hambro
DESCRIPTION:New materials and new applications of materials enable the dri
 ve to create the world that never was. This\ntalk focusses on the emerging
  class of responsive materials that promise new possibilities in soft robo
 tics\,\nand in particular the interesting questions in mechanics that thei
 r development and application raise. Of\nparticular interest are instabili
 ties in both the material and structure\, and the exploitation of these in
 stabilities\nfor applications. We use liquid crystal elastomers as a case 
 study. These are rubbery solids (elastomers)\nwith liquid crystal mesogens
  incorporated into their polymer chains. They display an isotropic to nema
 tic\nphase transformation accompanied by a large spontaneous deformation. 
 This in turn leads to rich variety of\nphenomena including ultra-soft beha
 vior\, stripe domains\, shape-morphing etc. Further\, when made as\nslende
 r structures\, the structural instability of slender structures and the ma
 terial instabilities of liquid crystal elastomers combine and compete in i
 nteresting ways. Finally\, these materials can be used to couple\nmechanic
 al response to other stimuli like light or magnetic field. The talk will d
 escribe various questions of mechanics that arise in the study of these ma
 terials and their impact on application.
LOCATION: https://harvard.zoom.us/j/271079684 
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