TY - JOUR
T1 - Defect modeling in spreading nematic droplets
AU - Lin, Te-Sheng
AU - Kondic, L.
AU - Cummings, L. J.
PY - 2012/1/13
Y1 - 2012/1/13
N2 - Experiments by Poulard and Cazabat on spreading droplets of nematic liquid crystal (NLC) reveal a surprisingly rich variety of behavior, including at least two different emerging length scales resulting from a contact line instability. In earlier work [Cummings, Lin, and Kondic, Phys. FluidsPHFLE61070-663110.1063/ 1.3570863 23, 043102 (2011)] we modified a lubrication model for NLCs due to Ben Amar and Cummings and showed that, in a qualitative sense, it can account for two-dimensional (2D) versions of the observed behavior. In the present work we propose a different approach that allows us to explore the effect of anchoring variations on the substrate, again in a 2D geometry. This in turn gives a simple way to model the presence of defects, which are nearly always present in such flows. The present model leads to additional terms in the governing equation. We explore the influence of these additional terms for some simple flow scenarios to gain insight into their influence.
AB - Experiments by Poulard and Cazabat on spreading droplets of nematic liquid crystal (NLC) reveal a surprisingly rich variety of behavior, including at least two different emerging length scales resulting from a contact line instability. In earlier work [Cummings, Lin, and Kondic, Phys. FluidsPHFLE61070-663110.1063/ 1.3570863 23, 043102 (2011)] we modified a lubrication model for NLCs due to Ben Amar and Cummings and showed that, in a qualitative sense, it can account for two-dimensional (2D) versions of the observed behavior. In the present work we propose a different approach that allows us to explore the effect of anchoring variations on the substrate, again in a 2D geometry. This in turn gives a simple way to model the presence of defects, which are nearly always present in such flows. The present model leads to additional terms in the governing equation. We explore the influence of these additional terms for some simple flow scenarios to gain insight into their influence.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84856686319&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevE.85.012702
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevE.85.012702
M3 - Article
C2 - 22400607
AN - SCOPUS:84856686319
SN - 1539-3755
VL - 85
JO - Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
JF - Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
IS - 1
M1 - 012702
ER -