Notice: A non well formed numeric value encountered in M:\Shares\PalffyServer\elc\abstract.php on line 54

A Note on the Kinematics of Rigid Molecules in Linear Flow Fields and Kinetic Theory for Biaxial Liquid Crystal Polymers

Qi Wang ,Jun Li ,Sarthok Sircar ²,Qi Wang ²
University of South Carolina and USC NanoCenter Nankai University ²University of South Carolina
We present a systematic derivation of the extended Jefferys' orbit for rigid ellipsoidal and V-shaped polymer molecules in linear incompressible viscous flows using a Lagrange multiplier's method based on a constraining force argument [5]. It reproduces the well-known Jefferys' orbit for rotating ellipsoids [12]. The method is simple and applicable to any rigid body immersed in a linear flow field so long as a discrete set of representative points on the rigid body can be identified that possess the same rotational degrees of freedom as the rigid body itself. The kinematics of a single V-shaped rigid polymer driven by a linear flow field are discussed, where steady states exist along with time-periodic states in limited varieties. Finally, we show how the kinematics of the rigid V-shaped polymer can be used in the derivation a kinetic theory for the solution of rigid biaxial liquid crystal polymers.

Full Document