The mechanisms of flow of a face-centred cubic micellar phase were investig
ated using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) for samples under either ste
ady or oscillatory shear in two different geometries: Couette cell and plan
ar shear sandwich. The system studied was a gel formed by a poly(oxyethylen
e)poly (oxypropylene) diblock copolymer in water. SAXS indicated that under
steady shear in a Couette cell, flow occurs via sliding of hexagonal close
-packed (hep) layers with a close-packed [110] direction along the shear di
rection. Under oscillatory shear in the planar shear sandwich, coexistence
between this orientation and one in which the hep layers are rotated by 30
degrees (and flow is in a [211] direction) was observed; however, when subj
ect to oscillatory shear in the Couette cell, flow only occurred along a [1
10] direction. This observation of flow in a non-close-packed direction may
be due to alignment induced by the walls of the shear sandwich.