Designable liquid crystal elastomer architectures via differential bilayer orientation for programmable mismatch‐induced morphing
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Many biological morphing systems, such as seed pods, Venus flytraps, and climbing vines, achieve complex shape transformations through environmentally induced strain mismatch and structural anisotropy. Inspired by these natural mechanisms, this work establishes a theoretical and experimental framework for the cooperative deformation and programmable morphing of liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) bilayers. Based on classical laminate plate theory (CLPT), the global morphing modes of anisotropic LCE bilayers are analyzed, and criteria for saddle‐shaped configurations are established. A modified large‐deformation bilayer strip model is further developed to describe bending‐dominated morphing and to derive an explicit relationship between curvature and temperature. Guided by these models, kirigami cuts are introduced into direct ink writing (DIW) printed bilayers to locally reduce in‐plane constraints and generate folding‐deployment morphologies. The CLPT‐based plate analysis is used for qualitative morphology classification, whereas the modified bilayer‐strip model describes the temperature‐dependent curvature and is compared with finite element method (FEA) and experiments. A representative folding‐deployment structure is further demonstrated as a thermally actuated adaptive gripper. This work provides a model‐guided framework linking differential bilayer orientation, anisotropic strain mismatch, geometric design, and programmable LCE morphing.
Source: Responsive materials
DOI: 10.1002/rpm2.70091
Language: English
Subfield: Mechanical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7225830984