Ware, Taylor H.

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10735.1/4978

Taylor Ware returned to UTD in 2015 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering. After graduating from UT Dallas with a PhD he did postdoctoral work at the Air Force Research Laboratory. His research interests include:

  • Biomaterials
  • Stimuli-responsive and programmable materials
  • Microfabrication
  • Smart implantable devices

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Browsing Ware, Taylor H. by Subject "Actuators"

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    Molecularly-Engineered, 4D-Printed Liquid Crystal Elastomer Actuators
    (WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH, 2018-11-27) Saed, Mohand O.; Ambulo, Cedric P.; Kim, Hyun; De, Rohit; Raval, Vyom; Searles, Kyle; Siddiqui, Danyal A.; Cue, John Michael O.; Stefan, Mihaela C.; Shankar, M. Ravi; Ware, Taylor H.; 0000-0001-5154-6378 (Saed MO); 0000-0001-7996-7393 (Ware, TH); Saed, Mohand O.; Ambulo, Cedric P.; Kim, Hyun; De, Rohit; Raval, Vyom; Searles, Kyle; Siddiqui, Danyal A.; Cue, John Michael O.; Stefan, Mihaela C.; Ware, Taylor H.
    Three-dimensional structures that undergo reversible shape changes in response to mild stimuli enable a wide range of smart devices, such as soft robots or implantable medical devices. Herein, a dual thiol-ene reaction scheme is used to synthesize a class of liquid crystal (LC) elastomers that can be 3D printed into complex shapes and subsequently undergo controlled shape change. Through controlling the phase transition temperature of polymerizable LC inks, morphing 3D structures with tunable actuation temperature (28 ± 2 to 105 ± 1 °C) are fabricated. Finally, multiple LC inks are 3D printed into single structures to allow for the production of untethered, thermo-responsive structures that sequentially and reversibly undergo multiple shape changes.
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    Topology Optimization for the Design of Folding Liquid Crystal Elastomer Actuators
    (Royal Society of Chemistry) Fuchi, K.; Ware, Taylor H.; Buskohl, P. R.; Reich, G. W.; Vaia, R. A.; White, T. J.; Joo, J. J.; Ware, Taylor H.
    Aligned liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are capable of undergoing large reversible shape change in response to thermal stimuli and may act as actuators for many potential applications such as self-assembly and deployment of micro devices. Recent advances in LCE patterning tools have demonstrated sub-millimetre control of director orientation, enabling the preparation of materials with arbitrarily complex director fields. However, without design tools to connect the 2D director pattern with the activated 3D shape, LCE design relies on intuition and trial and error. Here we present a design methodology to generate reliable folding in monolithic LCEs designed with topology optimization. The distributions of order/disorder and director orientations are optimized so that the remotely actuated deformation closely matches a target deformation for origami folding. The optimal design exhibits a strategy to counteract the mechanical frustration that may lead to an undesirable deformation, such as anti-clastic bending. Multi-hinge networks were developed using insights from the optimal hinge designs and were demonstrated through the fabrication and reversible actuation of a self-folding box. Topology optimization provides an important step towards leveraging the opportunities afforded by LCE patterning into functional designs.

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