  Stability is an important and fruitful avenue of research for liquid crystal
elastomers. At constant temperature, upon stretching, the homogeneous state of
a nematic body becomes unstable, and alternating shear stripes develop at very
low stress. Moreover, these materials can experience classical mechanical
effects, such as necking, void nucleation and cavitation, and inflation
instability, which are inherited from their polymeric network. We investigate
the following two problems: First, how do instabilities in nematic bodies
change from those found in purely elastic solids? Second, how are these
phenomena modified if the material constants fluctuate? To answer these
questions, we present a systematic study of instabilities occurring in nematic
liquid crystal elastomers, and examine the contribution of the nematic
component and of fluctuating model parameters that follow probability laws.
This combined analysis may lead to more realistic estimations of subsequent
mechanical damage in nematic solid materials.
