Hinge effect

If the Spheroidal wave function Spo(cos9) is expanded in terms of the Legendre polynomials as 

The well known even-odd effect in liquid crystals may be attributed to the hinge effect. For liquid crystalline polymers with the even carbon atoms in their spacers, the overall contribution of even -CH2-CH2- bonds makes the conjunctions bent. The odd counterparts do not have such an effect. Thus, the transitions for even ones are lower than those of odd ones. This hinge effect offers an explanation for the even-odd effect. 

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Figure 7 shows the hinging effect in the beads and cracking around a bead in the model dispersion (5% EDM A) in a denture bonded to an acrylic artificial tooth. The typical hyperbolic crack propagation pattern... 

On the basis of this argument, we may be able to deal with the hinge effect, i.e., the effect of the orientational deviation a of the conjunctive mesogen and spacer on the phase transition. The picture is depicted in Figure 2.25. The free energy becomes dependent on the deviation a, i.e.,... 

Figure 2.25. Schematic of the hinge effect of the main chain liquid crystalline polymers. (From Wang, 1995b.)...

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