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Updated: Feb 10, 2026

Finite Element Modeling for the Simulation of the Quasi-Static Compression of Corrugated Tapered Tubes
Published on: January 6, 2023
Modeling deformation and chaining of flexible shells in a nematic solvent with finite elements on an adaptive moving
Andrew DeBenedictis1, Timothy J Atherton1, Andrea L Rodarte2
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Tufts University, 574 Boston Avenue, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, USA.
Abstract:
A micrometer-scale elastic shell immersed in a nematic liquid crystal may be deformed by the host if the cost of deformation is comparable to the cost of elastic deformation of the nematic. Moreover, such inclusions interact and form chains due to quadrupolar distortions induced in the host. A continuum theory model using finite elements is developed for this system, using mesh regularization and dynamic refinement to ensure quality of the numerical representation even for large deformations. From this model, we determine the influence of the shell elasticity, nematic elasticity, and anchoring condition on the shape of the shell and hence extract parameter values from an experimental realization. Extending the model to multibody interactions, we predict the alignment angle of the chain with respect to the host nematic as a function of aspect ratio, which is found to be in excellent agreement with experiments.
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