Abstract
We demonstrate how to construct dynamic phase diagrams for complex fluids that undergo transitions under flow, in which the conserved composition variable and the broken-symmetry order parameter (nematic, smectic, crystalline, etc.) are coupled to shear rate. Our construction relies on a selection criterion, the existence of a steady interface connecting two stable homogeneous states. We use the (generalized) Doi model of lyotropic nematic liquid crystals as a model system, but the method can be easily applied to other systems, provided nonlocal effects are included.
- Received 25 October 1996
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.56.R55
©1997 American Physical Society