Banded spatiotemporal chaos in sheared nematogenic fluids

TL;DR

This paper numerically investigates sheared nematogenic fluids, revealing steady shear banding and a novel state combining spatiotemporal chaos with shear banding due to nonlinear flow-orientation coupling.

Contribution

It introduces a model capturing the interplay of order parameter stresses and shear flow, uncovering new steady states with complex spatiotemporal behavior.

Findings

Identification of shear banding states under certain stress conditions.

Discovery of a new steady state with combined chaos and shear banding.

Evidence of nonlinear coupling effects leading to complex flow patterns.

Abstract

We present the results of a numerical study of a model of the hydrodynamics of a sheared nematogenic fluid, taking into account the effects of order parameter stresses on the velocity profile, but allowing spatial variations only in the gradient direction. When parameter values are such that the stress from orientational distortions is comparable to the bare viscous stress, the system exhibits steady states with the characteristics of shear banding. In addition, nonlinearity in the coupling of extensional flow to orientation leads to the appearance of a new steady state in which the features of both spatiotemporal chaos and shear banding are present.