The role of the anchoring conditions in the electrorheological behaviour of a nematic constrained by two coaxial cylinders and submitted by a pressure drop

ABSTRACT

We study a nematic liquid crystal (NLC) filling the region between two coaxial cylinders subjected to the simultaneous action of both, a pressure gradient applied parallel to the axis of the cylinders and a radial low-frequency electric field. For the LC 4′-n-pentyl-4-cyanobiphenyl (5CB), we consider strong and weak anchoring conditions (WAC) to obtain the configuration of the director and the velocity profile for non-slip boundary conditions. Finally, we calculate the apparent viscosity for the nematic.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Nematic liquid crystal
• coaxial cylinders
• anchoring conditions
• pressure gradient
• electric field

Acknowledgements

We thank to Universidad Autónoma de la Ciudad de México for its support. Also, this work was partially supported by DGAPA-PAPIIT grant number 110012-3.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.