Orientational Instability in a Nematic Liquid Crystal in a Decaying Poiseuille Flow

Abstract

The results of studies of orientational dynamics and instability in an MBBA nematic liquid crystal in a decaying Poiseuille flow are considered. The experiments were made on a wedge cell with a gap width varying in a direction perpendicular to the flow. Confining surfaces ensured homeotropic adhesion of the nematic to the surface. Above a certain critical value of the initial pressure drop, a uniform orientational instability is observed, which corresponds to the emergence of the director from the plane of the flow. The dependence of the critical pressure drop on the local thickness of the liquid crystal layer and on the external destabilizing electric field is determined. Simulation of nematodynamics equations is carried out. The results of theoretical calculations are in qualitative and quantitative agreement with the experimental data.