Phase-field model for elastocapillary flows of liquid crystals

Mingfeng Qiu, James J. Feng, and Jean-Christophe Loudet
Phys. Rev. E 103, 022706 – Published 15 February 2021

Abstract

We propose a phase-field model to study interfacial flows of nematic liquid crystals that couple the capillary forces on the interface with the elastic stresses in the nematic phase. The theoretical model has two key ingredients: A tensor order parameter that provides a consistent description of the molecular and distortional elasticity, and a phase-field formalism that accurately represents the interfacial tension and the nematic anchoring stress by approximating a sharp-interface limit. Using this model, we carry out finite-element simulations of drop retraction in a surrounding fluid, with either component being nematic. The results are summarized by eight representative steady-state solutions in planar and axisymmetric geometries, each featuring a distinct configuration for the drop and the defects. The dynamics is dominated by the competition between the interfacial tension and the distortional elasticity in the nematic phase, mediated by the anchoring condition on the drop surface. As consequences of this competition, the steady-state drop deformation and the clearance between the defects and the drop surface both depend linearly on the elastocapillary number.

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  • Received 23 October 2020
  • Accepted 19 January 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.103.022706

©2021 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Polymers & Soft MatterFluid Dynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Mingfeng Qiu*

  • Department of Mathematics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z2, Canada

James J. Feng

  • Department of Mathematics and Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z2, Canada

Jean-Christophe Loudet

  • Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal (UMR 5031), F-33600 Pessac, France

  • *mingfeng.qiu@ens.fr; Present address: Laboratoire de Physique, École Normale Supérieure, 75005 Paris, France.
  • james.feng@ubc.ca
  • jean-christophe.loudet@u-bordeaux.fr

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Vol. 103, Iss. 2 — February 2021

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