Abstract
This paper discusses predictions of flow alignment in biaxial nematic liquid crystals in shear flow based on continuum theory. In particular it shows that there can be at most only six equilibrium flow alignment configurations in shear, these occurring in pairs with one of the local director triad perpendicular to the plane of shear, the other two in the plane of shear, the number of solutions available being dependent upon the values of the viscosity coefficients. By considering the stability of these solutions with respect to small time-dependent perturbations, it proves possible to select at most one of the available solutions as a stable solution, with that chosen dependent upon the values of the material viscosities. Thus as for a uniaxial nematic liquid crystal, one can have a particular alignment configuration favoured by shear flow.
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