Related papers: Minimization principle for shear alignment of liqu…
We employ a canonical variational framework for the predictive characterization of structural instabilities that develop during the diffusion-driven transient swelling of hydrogels under geometrical constraints. The variational formulation…
We model within the framework of finite elasticity two inherent instabilities observed in liquid crystal elastomers under uniaxial tension. First is necking which occurs when a material sample suddenly elongates more in a small region where…
We use energetic considerations to deduce the form of a previously uncertain coupling term in the shear-transformation-zone (STZ) theory of plastic deformation in amorphous solids. As in the earlier versions of the STZ theory, the onset of…
Shear relaxation and dynamic density fluctuations are studied within a Rouse model, generalized to include the effects of permanent random crosslinks. We derive an exact correspondence between the static shear viscosity and the resistance…
Controlling the shape and position of moving and pinned droplets on a solid surface is an important feature often found in microfluidic applications. In this work, we consider a well investigated phase field model including contact line…
Blue phases of cholesteric liquid crystals offer a spectacular example of naturally occurring disclination line networks. Here we numerically solve the hydrodynamic equations of motion to investigate the response of three types of blue…
The Ericksen-Leslie system is a fundamental hydrodynamic model that describes the evolution of incompressible liquid crystal flows of nematic type. In this paper, we prove the uniqueness of global weak solutions to the general…
The coupling of surfactant-laden droplet dynamics and electric fields plays an important role in liquid-handling technologies such as digital microfluidics. We develop an energetic variational framework for the coupled dynamics of two-phase…
We investigate the structure of nematic liquid crystal thin films described by the Landau--de Gennes tensor-valued order parameter with Dirichlet boundary conditions of nonzero degree. We prove that as the elasticity constant goes to zero a…
The paper develops a continuum theory of weak viscoelastic nematodynamics of Maxwell type. It may describe the molecular elasticity effects in mono-domain flows of liquid crystalline polymers as well as the viscoelastic effects in…
Sharp interfaces in miscible fluids have long been observed, yet classical theory associates them only with phase coexistence and non-convex free energies. We present a minimal variational frame work where adding a Fermi-Dirac (FD) free…
In recent decades novel solid substrates have been designed which change their wettability in response to light or an electrostatic field. Here, we investigate a droplet on substrates with oscillating uniform wettability by varying minimium…
We consider the evolution and interaction of a 2-dimensional nematic liquid crystal of Ericksen-Leslie type within a 1-dimensional flexible viscoelastic structure. This is a fully macroscopic model in which the nematic liquid crystal is…
The viscosity of suspensions of large ($\geq10{\mu m}$) particles diverges at high solid fractions due to proliferation of frictional particle contacts. Reducing friction, to allow or improve flowability, is usually achieved by tuning the…
A lubrication model can be used to describe the dynamics of a weakly volatile viscous fluid layer on a hydrophobic substrate. Thin layers of the fluid are unstable to perturbations and break up into slowly evolving interacting droplets. A…
Are solids intrinsically different from liquids? Must a finite stress be applied in order to induce flow? Or, instead, do all solids only look rigid on some finite timescales and eventually flow if an infinitesimal shear stress is applied?…
In liquid crystal elastomers, the orientational order of liquid crystals is coupled with elastic distortions of crosslinked polymer networks. Previous theoretical research has described these materials through two different approaches: a…
We analytically derive the effective layer elastic energy of smectic-A and smectic-C liquid crystals by adiabatic elimination of the orientational degree of freedom from the generalized Chen-Lubensky model. In the smectic-A phase, the…
We aimed to use finite element method to simulate the unique behaviors of liquid crystal elastomer, such as semi-soft elasticity, stripe domain instabilities etc. We started from an energy functional with the 2D Bladon-Warner-Terentjev…
We study the switching dynamics in two-domain and four-domain twisted nematic liquid crystal devices. The equilibrium configuration of these devices involves the coexistence of regions characterised by different handedness of the inherent…