Poisson's Ratio of Monodomain Liquid Crystalline Elastomers

Abstract

Abstract Monodomains of smectic C liquid crystalline elastomers were prepared by controlled stretching of a polydomain thin film. Specimens were prepared from this film for stress–strain study. A Poisson's ratio of zero was found at small strains for uniaxial stretching perpendicular to the director. For uniaxial strain parallel to the director, Poisson's ratios of approximately 0.4–0.5 were found (by extrapolation) for very small strains. A modulus anisotropy of 8 was found for stretching parallel versus perpendicular to the director. magnified image