S-shaped deformation profiles in sheared liquid crystalline polymers

A tracer particle technique has been used to investigate the deformation profiles of a liquid-crystalline polymer under shear between parallel plates. The system was an aqueous solution of hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC), the good transparency of which allows for optical observations over thicknesses of the order of millimetres, as used here. The results indicate that the deformation profile deviated considerably from linearity, whereas a linear profile was confirmed for isotropic liquids, including polymeric ones. For the HPC liquid-crystalline solution most of the deformation was concentrated close to the walls.