Abstract:  We present an energetic variational phase-field model for the two-phase Incompressible flow with one phase being the nematic liquid crystal. The model leads to a coupled nonlinear system satisfying an energy law. Some efficient and easy-to-implement numerical schemes are presented for solving the coupled nonlinear system. We use these schemes to simulate two benchmark experiments: one is the formation of bead-on-a-string phenomena, and the other is the dynamics of drop pinching-off. We investigate the detailed dynamical pinch-off behavior, as well as the formation of the consequent satellite droplets, by varying order parameters of liquid crystal bulk and interfacial anchoring energy constant. Qualitative agreements with experimental results are observed.

About the Speaker

Dr. Yang Xiaofeng received his Ph. D in Mathematics, Purdue University in 2007, and his B.S. and M.S. in Mathematics from University of Science and Technology of China. He was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Mathematics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), for the year 2007-2009 and joined University of South Carolina in fall 2009. He is now an Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) in Department of Mathematics at University of South Carolina. His research areas are Applied and Computational Mathematics, Mathematical modeling and scientific computing with applications to Soft Matter/Complex Fluids/Cell Dynamics, and Numerical analysis of finite element methods and spectral methods.

DateTime: July 31, 2012 (Tuesday), 10:00 – 11:30
Location: 606 Conference Room