Electrorheological model based on liquid crystals membranes with applications to outer hair cells*

Liquid crystal flexoelectric actuation uses an imposed electric field to create membrane bending, this phenomenon is found in Outer Hair Cells (OHC) located in the inner ear, whose role is to amplify sound through generation of mechanical power. Oscillations in the OHC membranes create periodic viscoelastic flows in the contacting fluid media. A key objective of this work on flexoelectric actuation relevant to OHC is to find the relations and impact of the electro-mechanical properties of the membrane, the rheological properties of the viscoelastic Jeffrey’s media, and the frequency response of the generated mechanical power output. When the inertia is neglected, the system follows a non-monotonically behavior in the power spectrum. This behavior is associated to the solvent contributions related to the retardation-Jeffreys mechanisms.