(247a) Computational Studies of the Motion of a Nematic Lcp in a Simple Shear Device

We report on fully 3D numerical solutions for the motion of a model nematic LCP in a simple shear flow device. The solutions are fully coupled, including both the flow and the material microstructure as unknowns. They show, for the first time, a prediction of the formation of a complete disclination loop, thus providing an understanding of previous results, which were restricted to spatial gradients in the vorticity-velocity gradient plane. Comparisons with experimental data shows that there is a much better correspondence with measured conditions for the various flow and microstructure transitions that are observed.