Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
Spring 5-31-2018
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematical Sciences - (Ph.D.)
Department
Mathematical Sciences
First Advisor
Linda Jane Cummings
Second Advisor
Lou Kondic
Third Advisor
Shahriar Afkhami
Fourth Advisor
Catalin C. Turc
Fifth Advisor
Thomas P. Witelski
Abstract
The dynamics of thin films of nematic liquid crystal (NLC) are studied. Nematic liquid crystals are a type of non-Newtonian fluid with anisotropic viscous effects (due to the shape of the molecules) and elasticity effects (due to interacting electrical dipole moments). Exploiting the small aspect ratio in the geometry of interest, a fourth-order non-linear partial differential equation is used to model the free surface of the thin films. Particular attention is paid to the interplay between the bulk elasticity and the preferred orientation (boundary condition) of NLC molecules at the two interfaces: the substrate and the free surface. This work is a collection of three previously published papers and some recent unpublished work. Two main topics are covered: 1) the flow of thin films of NLC down an inclined substrate under gravity, and 2) the stability of thin NLC films on a horizontal substrate under the influence of surface tension, internal elastic effects, and fluid/solid interactions. Using a combination of analytical and computational techniques allows for a novel understanding of relevant instability mechanisms, and of their influence on transient and fully developed fluid film morphologies. While the analytical results in this thesis focus on NLC films, these results may be extended to a variety of other thin film models. Finally, a numerical code that utilizes a graphics processor unit (GPU) is presented, and the significant performance gains are discussed.
Recommended Citation
Lam, Michael-Angelo Y.-H., "Instabilities in nematic liquid crystal films and droplets" (2018). Dissertations. 1413.
https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/dissertations/1413
