Computational Fluid Dynamics of Liquid Crystals
Reference no.: AR/AMS1
Supervisors:
Date advertised: 6th February 2007
Please contact Dr Alison Ramage for further information.
Liquid crystals are fluids that show local orientational order.
The interplay between orientation and flow in these substances is very intricate and can lead to interesting macroscopic phenomena, many of which are not yet fully understood.
A particular example is the pattern formation that can occur in polymeric liquid crystals under flow.
This is an industrially important effect that influences, eg, the stability of items produced by moulding.
Flow is also important in certain types of liquid crystal displays.
The project will involve both theoretical modelling and development and implementation of numerical methods for the solution of the generalised Stokes and Navier-Stokes equations that govern the flow.
This project is suitable for students who have taken both the Numerical Analysis and Fluid Mechanics classes.
No previous aquaintance with Liquid Crystals is assumed.