Reshaping nemato-elastic sheets

Eur Phys J E Soft Matter. 2015 Jul;38(7):75. doi: 10.1140/epje/i2015-15075-6. Epub 2015 Jul 14.

Abstract

We consider three-dimensional reshaping of thin nemato-elastic sheets containing half-charged defects upon nematic-isotropic transition. Gaussian curvature, that can be evaluated analytically when the nematic texture is known, differs from zero in the entire domain and has a dipole or hexapole singularity, respectively, at defects of positive or negative sign. The latter kind of defects appears in not simply connected domains. Three-dimensional shapes dependent on boundary anchoring are obtained with the help of finite element computations.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Elasticity*
  • Liquid Crystals / chemistry*
  • Models, Theoretical