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

Cousins, Joseph R. L. and Bhadwal, Akhshay S. and Mottram, Nigel J. and Brown, Carl V. and Wilson, Stephen K. (2024) Flow manipulation of a nematic liquid crystal in a Hele-Shaw cell with an electrically-controlled viscous obstruction. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 996. R1. ISSN 0022-1120 (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.

ORCID iDs

Cousins, Joseph R. L., Bhadwal, Akhshay S., Mottram, Nigel J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7265-0059, Brown, Carl V. and Wilson, Stephen K. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7841-9643;
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