NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF DIRECTOR ORIENTATION AND FLOW OF NEMATIC LIQUID CRYSTAL IN A PLANAR 1:4 EXPANSION.

Abstract. In this paper, numerical solutions to the equations for the Ericksen-Leslie dynamic theory are obtained for two-dimensional nematic liquid crystal flows subject to a magnetic field. A numerical method for solving the governing equations for 2D flows has been formulated. The governing equations are solved by a finite difference technique based on the GENSMAC methodology introduced by Tomé and McKee (1994), Tomé et al. (2002). To demonstrate the capabilities of the numerical method the flow of a nematic liquid crystal in a planar 1:4 expansion was simulated. Calculations were simulated for various values of the Ericksen number (the ratio of viscous to elastic stress)