Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-1-1996
Abstract
We consider a cylindrical fiber composed of main-chain liquid crystal polymer in the chiral smectic-C phase. Due to steric constraints on the liquid crystal polymer, the smectic layers orient perpendicular to the fiber axis, the liquid crystal director lies flat against the fiber wall, and a line disclination appears along the fiber axis. Using a Landau-de Gennes expression for the elastic free energy, we show that the fiber may undergo a transition from a cylinder to a helix. The transition is favored by large chirality, large fiber radius, and low surface tension, but is probably not experimentally accessible. However, a related transition involving only the disclination should be observable.
Keywords
calculations, fibers, free energy, integral equations, interfacial energy, partial differential equations, phase transitions, polarization, smectic liquid crystals, surface tension, cylindrical fiber, smectic layers, twisting transition, liquid crystal polymers, approximation theory
Publication Title
Physical Review E
Rights
© 1996 by the American Physical Society."
Recommended Citation
Twisting Transition in a Fiber Composed of Chiral Smectic-C Liquid Crystal Polymer. Sones R.A., Petschek R.G., Cronin D.W., Terentjev E.M., Physical Review E - Statistical Physics, Plasmas, Fluids, and Related Interdisciplinary Topics 53:4 SUPPL. B, 3611-3617 (1996).