Abstract
The Leslie-Ericksen continuum theory has been used to study unsteady behaviors of the director and backflow induced by the motion of the director when a magnetic field is imposed on a nematic liquid crystal placed between two parallel plates. Twist angle, which is one of the boundary conditions, is selected as a computation parameter. It is confirmed that backflow is induced by a magnetic field through the reorientation of the director to the direction of the magnetic field. The maximum value of the backflow is about 0.09 mm/s. It is found that the velocity profiles become asymmetric and the bulk flow rates become non-zero values, depending on the twist angle. Also, the experimental confirmation of the backflow has been performed by observing micro-particles which are suspended in the liquid crystal.
