arXiv subjects

Mark Warner

Publications and source records attributed to Mark Warner.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2011

The self-stabilising dynamics of bicycles

We analyse the classical problem of the stability of bicycles when moving quickly and upright. Developing a lean causes the front wheel to turn thereby setting the bicycle instantaneously into circular motion. The centripetal force associated with the lean-dependent turning circle gives a restoring torque which corrects the lean. The force also helps self-steer the front wheel, ensuring the bicycle continues in an essentially straight path. We give the frequency of lean oscillations about the vertical executed during riding. As in the literature, we discuss the neglect of gyroscopic effects, which experiment suggests are negligible.

physics.class-ph↗

arXiv2011

Blueprinting Nematic Glass: Systematically Constructing and Combining Active Points of Curvature for Emergent Morphology

Much recent progress has been made in the study of nematic solids, both glassy and elastomeric, particularly in the realm of stress-free, defect-driven deformation in thin sheets of material. In this paper we consider a subset of texture domains in nematic glasses that are simple to synthesize, and explore the ways that these simple domains may be compatibly combined to yield analogs of the traditional smooth disclination defect textures seen in standard liquid crystals. We calculate the deformation properties of these constructed textures, and show that, subject to the compatibility constraints of the construction, these textures may be further combined to achieve shape blueprinting of 3-D structures from flat sheets.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2010

Disclination-mediated thermo-optical response in nematic glass sheets

Nematic solids respond strongly to changes in ambient heat or light, significantly differently parallel and perpendicular to the director. This phenomenon is well characterized for uniform director fields, but not for defect textures. We analyze the elastic ground states of a nematic glass in the membrane approximation as a function of temperature for some disclination defects with an eye towards reversibly inducing three-dimensional shapes from flat sheets of material, at the nano-scale all the way to macroscopic objects, including non-developable surfaces. The latter offers a new paradigm to actuation via switchable stretch in thin systems.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2008

Smectic-C tilt under shear in Smectic-A elastomers

Stenull and Lubensky [Phys. Rev. E {\bf 76}, 011706 (2007)] have argued that shear strain and tilt of the director relative to the layer normal are coupled in smectic elastomers and that the imposition of one necessarily leads to the development of the other. This means, in particular, that a Smectic-A elastomer subjected to a simple shear will develop Smectic-C-like tilt of the director. Recently, Kramer and Finkelmann [arXiv:0708.2024, Phys. Rev. E {\bf 78}, 021704 (2008)] performed shear experiments on Smectic-A elastomers using two different shear geometries. One of the experiments, which implements simple shear, produces clear evidence for the development of Smectic-C-like tilt. Here, we generalize a model for smectic elastomers introduced by Adams and Warner [Phys. Rev. E {\bf 71}, 021708 (2005)] and use it to study the magnitude of Smectic-C-like tilt under shear for the two geometries investigated by Kramer and Finkelmann. Using reasonable estimates of model parameters, we estimate the tilt angle for both geometries, and we compare our estimates to the experimental results. The other shear geometry is problematic since it introduces additional in-plane compressions in a sheet-like sample, thus inducing instabilities that we discuss.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2001

Photonic band structure of highly deformable, self-assembling systems

We calculate the photonic band structure at normal incidence of highly deformable, self-assembling systems - cholesteric elastomers subjected to external stress. Cholesterics display brilliant reflection and lasing owing to gaps in their photonic band structure. The band structure of cholesteric elastomers varies sensitively with strain, showing new gaps opening up and shifting in frequency. A novel prediction of a total band gap is made, and is expected to occur in the vicinity of the previously observed de Vries bandgap, which is only for one polarisation.

cond-mat.soft↗