Optical response of the initially confocal colorless liquid crystal texture to the shear induced by the air flow

Project: Visualization of Mechanical Processes

Journal: Visualization of Mechanical Processes: An International Online Journal

Article: SHEAR SENSITIVE LIQUID CRYSTALS FOR DIAGNOSTICS OF BOUNDARY LAYER STRUCTURE IN AERODYNAMICAL EXPERIMENT

Topics: Gas dynamics, Nanomaterials and nanomaterials processing, Nanophotonics, Material Processing, Aerodynamics, Experimental techniques, Visualization techniques, Materials

The confocal texture can be transformed into the planar one by a simple shear of glasses between which the liquid crystal sample is located or by another mechanical way (air flow, brush, and so on). This textural transition from the confocal into planar texture has a practical application in the aerodynamic experiment. In order to illustrate the effect, this movie demonstrates the optical response of the initially confocal colorless liquid crystal texture to the shear induced by the air flow.