Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS March Meeting 2011
Volume 56, Number 1
Monday–Friday, March 21–25, 2011; Dallas, Texas
Abstract: S1.00049 : The elastic Maier-Saupe-Zwanzig model and some properties of nematic elastomers
Author:
We introduce a simple mean-field lattice model to describe the
behavior of nematic elastomers. This model combines the
Maier-Saupe-Zwanzig approach to liquid crystals and an extension
to lattice systems of the Warner-Terentjev theory of elasticity,
with the addition of quenched random fields. We use standard
techniques of statistical mechanics to obtain analytic solutions
for the full range of parameters. Among other results, we show
the existence of a stress-strain coexistence curve below a
freezing temperature, analogous to the $P$-$V$ diagram of a
simple fluid, with the disorder strength playing the role of
temperature. Below a critical value of disorder, the tie lines in
this diagram resemble the experimental stress-strain plateau, and
may be interpreted as signatures of the characteristic
polydomain-monodomain transition. Also, in the monodomain case,
we show that random-fields may soften the first-order transition
between nematic and isotropic phases, provided the samples are
formed in the nematic state.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2011.MAR.S1.49
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