Hydrodynamics of chiral nematics in a channel and sudden contraction geometry

This study investigates the influence of chirality, viscous effects, and confinement geometry on the flow dynamics and defect structures of cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) using numerical simulations. As chiral strength increases, π-twist defects form at low chirality and progressively organize into hexagonal domains resembling blue phase-like structures at higher chirality. At sufficiently high chirality and aspect ratios, localized defect arrangements emerge that are structurally analogous to half-skyrmion configurations observed in confined cholesteric systems. Although the skyrmion number is not explicitly calculated, the defect arrangement mirrors known equilibrium patterns. These results indicate dynamic analogs of equilibrium phases formed and stabilized by flow–structure interactions. Sudden contraction geometries reveal how aspect ratio and elastic interactions promote flow disturbances and defect development. Analyses of velocity and scalar order parameter (S) distributions demonstrate strong coupling between molecular alignment and hydrodynamic fields, with localized vortices forming around τ− defects in regions of low S and velocity. Temporal evaluations of velocity fluctuations uncover irregular or quasi-chaotic flow regimes at low Ericksen numbers (Er), characterized by irregular defect motion and skewed probability density functions. These findings offer new insight into CLC structure formation and flow behavior, with potential applications in defect engineering, microfluidics, soft robotics, and photonic materials.