Propagation and attenuation of elastic waves in nematic elastomer hollow cylinders

As an intelligent soft material, nematic elastomers (NEs) possess both rubber elasticity and the unique properties of liquid crystals. Such combination gives NEs unusual mechanical response. In this paper, guided waves in nematic elastomer hollow cylinders are investigated. Based on the viscoelasticity theory, the wave governing equations are derived and solved by the Legendre polynomial series approach (LPSA). This approach can directly obtain eigenvalues/eigenvectors characterizing wave propagation and attenuation or field profiles. The effects of circumferential order and radius-thickness ratio on dispersion and attenuation curves are discussed. Besides, dispersion and attenuation curves with different initial director orientations are presented. It is found that the existence of the director results in mode conversions between adjacent flexural longitudinal modes and flexural torsional modes. The results provide important guidance for dynamic design and device analysis of cylinder shaped nematic elastomer devices.