Numerical Experiments for Thermally-induced Bending of Nematic Elastomers with Hybrid Alignment (HNEs)

The nematic elastomers with hybrid alignment (HNEs) exhibit large anisotropic and non homogeneous volume changes, which can in- duce noticeable changes in their configuration. Here, we deal with LCEs having hybrid align- ment (HNEs), that is, fabricated with a given non-homogeneous nematic orientation. For such a materials, permanent distortions induced by deswelling can be compensated by those resulting from cooling below TN ; it results the possibility of producing temperature-driven actuators.