Shear-stress-controlled dynamics of nematic complex fluids.

Based on a mesoscopic theory we investigate the nonequilibrium dynamics of a sheared nematic liquid, with the control parameter being the shear stress σ xy (rather than the usual shear rate, γ). To this end we supplement the equations of motion for the orientational order parameters by an equation for γ, which then becomes time dependent. Shearing the system from an isotropic state, the stress-controlled flow properties turn out to be essentially identical to those at fixed γ. Pronounced differences occur when the equilibrium state is nematic. Here, shearing at controlled γ yields several nonequilibrium transitions between different dynamic states, including chaotic regimes. The corresponding stress-controlled system has only one transition from a regular periodic into a stationary (shear-aligned) state. The position of this transition in the σ xy-γ plane turns out to be tunable by the delay time entering our control scheme for σ xy. Moreover, a sudden change in the control method can stabilize the chaotic states appearing at fixed γ.