Thermally induced self-rupture of a constrained liquid crystal elastomer

Liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) is a promising soft material which exhibits large actuation and can respond to different external fields with proper modifications. In the case of thermally actuated LCEs, fracture properties are crucial ensure that LCEs robustly function under loading heating conditions, without unexpected failure. this work, we systematically characterize energy LCE at temperatures rates. We found behaves like tough low high rates, but dramatically drops once heated beyond nematic isotropic transition temperature (TNI). At temperatures, constrained precut sample undergo self-rupture due stress. have also used measured successfully predict critical for geometries.