Viscous fingering in liquid crystals: Anisotropy and morphological transitions

We show that a minimal model for viscous fingering with a nematic liquid crystal in which anisotropy is considered to enter through two different viscosities in two perpendicular directions can be mapped to a twofold anisotropy in the surface tension. We numerically integrate the dynamics of the res...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Folch Manzanares, Roger, Casademunt i Viader, Jaume, Hernández Machado, Aurora
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2000
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2445/18739
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/18739
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Dinàmica de fluids
Cristal·lografia
Ciència dels materials
Física de l'estat sòlid
Fluid dynamics
Crystallography
Materials science
Solid state physics
Descripción
Sumario:We show that a minimal model for viscous fingering with a nematic liquid crystal in which anisotropy is considered to enter through two different viscosities in two perpendicular directions can be mapped to a twofold anisotropy in the surface tension. We numerically integrate the dynamics of the resulting problem with the phase-field approach to find and characterize a transition between tip splitting and side branching as a function of both anisotropy and dimensionless surface tension. This anisotropy dependence could explain the experimentally observed (reentrant) transition as temperature and applied pressure are varied. Our observations are also consistent with previous experimental evidence in viscous fingering within an etched cell and simulations of solidification.