Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2025

Preparation of Monodomain Liquid Crystal Elastomers and Liquid Crystal Elastomer Nanocomposites
Published on: February 6, 2016
Fracture and fatigue characteristics of monodomain and polydomain liquid crystal elastomers
Minyu Hu1, Liqian Wang1, Zhuxuan Wei1
1State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China. rxiao@zju.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs), a class of elastomers combining liquid crystals with a polymer network, have garnered significant interest for applications in the field of soft robotics. However, the fracture and fatigue characteristics of LCEs remain poorly understood. This study presents a comprehensive investigation into the fracture and fatigue characteristics of LCEs, focusing on polydomain and monodomain variants subjected to different loading directions. The fracture energy (also called toughness) and fatigue threshold of polydomain and monodomain LCEs were quantitatively measured and compared with selected elastomers. Our experimental results demonstrate that polydomain LCEs exhibit superior fracture energy and fatigue threshold compared to monodomain LCEs. Within the monodomain category, LCEs subjected to parallel loading exhibit larger fracture energy than those under vertical loading, while their fatigue thresholds remain comparable. These findings enhance our understanding of the deformation and failure characteristics of LCEs, which are crucial for their applications in various fields.
Related Concept Videos
Polymer Classification: Crystallinity
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...
Fatigue
Stress-Strain Diagram - Brittle Materials
Members Made of Elastoplastic Material
As the bending moment...
Relation between Poisson's ratio, Modulus of Elasticity and Modulus of Rigidity

