Capturing the helical to spiral transitions in thin ribbons of nematic elastomers

TL;DR

This paper quantitatively analyzes the transition from helicoid to spiral shapes in thin nematic elastomer ribbons, revealing that the transition is driven by the competition between stretching and bending energies.

Contribution

It introduces a simple Koiter-type plate model to accurately describe the shape transition in nematic elastomer ribbons, highlighting the energetic competition involved.

Findings

Transition governed by stretching and bending energy balance

Quantitative description of shape change in nematic elastomer ribbons

Validation of the model with experimental or theoretical data

Abstract

We provide a quantitative description of the helicoid--to--spiral transition in thin ribbons of nematic elastomers using an elementary calculation based on a Koiter-type plate with incompatible reference configuration. Our calculation confirms that such transition is ruled by the competition between stretching energy and bending energy.