Theoretical Modelling of Flowing Nematics

The aims of this project were to characterize the phenomena that occur during the flow of liquid crystals and to compare the behaviour of different types of liquid crystalline materials. We expected that different materials, e. g., polymer liquid crystals on the one side, and surfactant mesophases on the other, show common flow phenomena when their phase structure is similar. The studies were carried out with the objective of understanding the behaviour of complex fluids under shear. We are trying to explain how the structure of a phase under shear is linked to the effect of the shear. One of the main features to be considered in the flow of complex fluids is the fact that thermodynamics and hydrodynamics are coupled. The challenge is to understand and to model this coupling. Implications in fundamental physics as well as in process engineering are expected.