Flow alignment phenomena in liquid crystals studied by molecular dynamics simulation

Abstract

The flow alignment of a nematic liquid crystal has been studied as a function of temperature, beginning at high temperature in the nematic phase and down to the nematic-smectic A phase transition. The alignment angle is obtained by estimating the twist viscosities by nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) methods. These estimates are cross-checked by evaluating the corresponding equilibrium fluctuation relations. As a further comparison, shear flow simulations are carried out by application of the SLLOD equations of motion (so named because of their close relationship to the Doll's equation of motion, which can be derived from the Doll's tensor Hamiltonian), whereby the alignment angle is obtained directly. All these methods give consistent results for the alignment angle. At low temperatures near the nematic-smectic A transition the system becomes flow unstable. In this region the alignment angle has been calculated as a function of time. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.