Effect of long-range elasticity and boundary conditions on microstructural response of sheared discotic mesophases (Q1590444)

Shear flow-induced microstructure phenomena have been much studied in rod-like nematic phases, but they are much less known in discotic mesophases, although the latter ones also have practical interest as, for instance, in the manufacturing of carbon fibers. This paper analyzes these structural phenomena by starting from a non-linear theory which takes into account short-range order elasticity (due to molecular interactions), long-range elasticity (describing the effects due to finite boundaries), and viscous flow effects, already used by the authors in sheared rod-like nematics [Rheol. Acta 37, 374 ff. (1998)]. The aim of this paper is to characterize the effect of long-range order elasticity on the rectilinear shear-induced microstructure of discotic mesophases under two strong surface anchoring conditions (along the velocity gradient direction and along the velocity direction). Four distinct planar microstructure modes are found: 1) long-range elasticity induced steady state; 2) bulk tumbling-boundary wagging state; 3) bulk wagging state, and 4) viscous-flow induced steady state. The stability of these microstructural modes is exhibited in a rheological phase plane spanned by Ericksen number \(Er\) (the ratio of viscous flow to long-range elasticity) and the ratio \(R\) of short to long-range elasticity. The four regimes are found to coexist at a point called quasi-critical point in the phase plane. The statical and dynamical features of various regimes are characterized and analyzed under the two anchoring conditions. The average bulk orientation for all the modes is found to be close to the velocity gradient direction, irrespective of the surface anchoring. However, the anchoring along the velocity gradient influences deeper the bulk than anchoring along the velocity direction. The effects of long-range elasticity on the features of flow-induced microstructures are characterized. For instance, it is found that the long-range anisotropy shifts the position of quasi-critical point in phase plane, according to a scaling law discovered in this paper.