Flow manipulation of a nematic liquid crystal in a Hele-Shaw cell with an electrically-controlled viscous obstruction

Cousins, Joseph and Bhadwal, Akhshay and Mottram, Nigel and Brown, Carl and Wilson, Stephen (2024) Flow manipulation of a nematic liquid crystal in a Hele-Shaw cell with an electrically-controlled viscous obstruction. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. ISSN 0022-1120 (In Press) (https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2024.397)

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Abstract

The flow of a nematic liquid crystal in a Hele-Shaw cell with an electrically-controlled viscous obstruction is investigated using both a theoretical model and physical experiments. The viscous obstruction is created by temporarily electrically altering the viscosity of the nematic in a region of the cell across which an electric field is applied. The theoretical model is validated experimentally for a circular cylindrical obstruction, demonstrating user-controlled flow manipulation of an anisotropic liquid within a heterogeneous single-phase microfluidic device.

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