Optomechanical-coupled tristable oscillations in a nonlinear light-driven system
Journal
International Journal of Mechanical Sciences
Journal Volume
299
Start Page
110424
ISSN
00207403
Date Issued
2025
Author(s)
Fang, Xiang
Chen, Yumei
Ma, Tingfeng
Lou, Jia
Wang, Ji
Carrera, Erasmo
Wu, Huimin
Huang, Zhilong
Abstract
Responsive liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs), being able to convert ambient energy into sustainable motions, have promoted the development of smart systems recently. However, the design of the LCE system and the corresponding nonlinear dynamics analysis remain a challenging task. In this paper, a novel opto-mechanical coupled nonlinear system composing a light-powered LCE fiber is proposed and its self-excited tristable oscillation is investigated. The LCE fiber is connected to a terminal mass, attached to two mechanical springs on each lateral side, where the springs are arranged as a “X” shape within a fixed frame. To obtain the nonlinear opto-mechanical governing equations, the elastic properties and the light stimuli response of the LCE fiber are combined and a piecewise dynamic coupled model is adopted. By using the iterative numerical method, the dynamic performance of the system is predicted. Once the energy of the illuminated light to the LCE exceeds the required critical threshold, a sustainable tristable oscillation will be triggered that enables the system to maintain a snap-through oscillation between its three equilibrium points and compensate the damping-induced energy loss. Furthermore, a comprehensive analysis of several crucial geometric and material factors that contribute to the behavior of the system is conducted, including energy-related parameters and the broke of symmetry by the gravitational acceleration. Compared to monostable and bistable light-driven LCE oscillators, the tristable one has more complicated motion types and tuning parameters. The investigation of this work can extend the knowledge about the nonlinear opto-mechanical systems having the light-responsive LCEs, which will be useful to the development of intelligent biosensors, soft robots, energy harvester, and smart actuators.
Subjects
Light-responsive Material
Liquid Crystal Elastomer
Nonlinear System
Phase Trajectory
Snap-through
Tristable Oscillation
Gradient Methods
Light Sensitive Materials
Motion Planning
Nonlinear Analysis
Nonlinear Equations
Robots
Ambients
Driven System
Energy
Light Driven
Light-responsive Materials
Liquid Crystal Elastomers
Optomechanical
Phase Trajectory
Snap-through
Tristable Oscillation
Convergence Of Numerical Methods
Publisher
Elsevier Ltd
Type
journal article