We study the pressure-driven flow of concentrated colloids confined in glass micro-channels at the single particle level using fast confocal microscopy. For channel to particle size ratios $a/bar{D} lesssim 30$, the flow rate of the suspended particles shows fluctuations. These turn into regular oscillations for higher confinements ($a/bar{D} simeq 20$). We present evidence to link these oscillations with the relative flow of solvent and particles (permeation) and the effect of confinement on shear thickening.
Download