Departamento de Materiales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellín, Colombia.
J Chem Phys. 2011 Apr 7;134(13):134905. doi: 10.1063/1.3567098.
The flow of nematic liquid crystals in tightly confined systems was simulated using a molecular theory and an unsymmetric radial basis function collocation approach. When a nematic liquid crystal is subjected to a cavity flow, we find that moderate flows facilitate the relaxation of the system to the stable defect configuration observed in the absence of flow. Under more extreme flow conditions, e.g., an Ericksen number Er=20, flows can alter the steady-state defect structure observed in the cavity. The proposed numerical method was also used to examine defect annihilation in a thin liquid crystal film. The flows that arise from shear stresses within the system result in a higher velocity for s = +1∕2 defect than for the defect of opposing charge. This higher velocity can be attributed to reactive stresses within the deformed liquid crystal, which result in a net flow that favors the motion of one defect. These two examples serve to illustrate the usefulness of radial basis functions methods in the context of liquid crystal dynamics both at and beyond equilibrium.
采用分子理论和非对称径向基函数配置方法模拟了各向异性液晶在紧密受限系统中的流动。当各向异性液晶受到腔流作用时，我们发现适度的流动有助于系统弛豫到无流动时观察到的稳定缺陷构型。在更极端的流动条件下，例如，埃利森数 Er=20，流动可以改变腔中观察到的稳态缺陷结构。所提出的数值方法也用于研究薄液晶膜中的缺陷消除。由于系统内的剪切应力产生的流动导致 s = +1/2 缺陷的速度高于相反电荷缺陷的速度。这种更高的速度可以归因于变形液晶内的反应应力，这导致有利于一个缺陷运动的净流动。这两个例子说明了径向基函数方法在平衡和非平衡状态下的液晶动力学中的有用性。
