Epitropic Liquid-Crystal Hexadecane Layer in the Rheological Model of a Heterophase Interlayer

Abstract

The hydrodynamic model of a heterophase interlayer of a liquid, which includes an epitropic liquid-crystal (ELC) layer, is supplemented with its structural-rheological model. The application of these models and the technique developed for processing the results of viscosity measurements for n-hexadecane interlayers in the tribotriads has made it possible to conduct a detailed determination of the properties of its ELC layer and the overlapped layer, such as the equilibrium thickness and viscosity, their temperature variation, and the activations energy of the viscous flow.