No Arabic abstract
Dense suspensions of model hard-sphere-like colloids, with different particle sizes, are examined experimentally in the glass state, under shear and extensional rheology. Under steady shear flow we detect Discontinuous Shear Thickening (DST) above a critical shear rate. Start-up shear experiments show stress overshoots in the vicinity of the onset of DST related with a change in microscopic morphology, as the sample shows dilatancy effects. The analysis of the normal stress together with direct sample observation by high speed camera, indicates the appearance of positive N1 and dilation behavior at the shear thickening onset. Dilatancy effects are detected also under extensional flow. The latter was studied through capillary breakup and filament stretching experimental setups, where liquid-like response is seen for strain rate lower than a critical strain rate and solid like-behavior for higher strain rates. Monitoring the filament thinning processes under different conditions (volume fractions and strain rates) we have created a state diagram where all responses of a hard-sphere suspension (Newtonian, shear thinning, shear thickening, dilatant) are shown. We finally compare the shear thickening response of these hard-sphere-like suspensions and glasses in shear with that in extensional flow.
Dense suspensions are non-Newtonian fluids which exhibit strong shear thickening and normal stress differences. Using numerical simulation of extensional and shear flows, we investigate how rheological properties are determined by the microstructure which is built under flows and by the interactions between particles. By imposing extensional and shear flows, we can assess the degree of flow-type dependence in regimes below and above thickening. Even when the flow-type dependence is hindered, nondissipative responses, such as normal stress differences, are present and characterise the non-Newtonian behaviour of dense suspensions.
Discontinuous shear thickening (DST) observed in many dense athermal suspensions has proven difficult to understand and to reproduce by numerical simulation. By introducing a numerical scheme including both relevant hydrodynamic interactions and granularlike contacts, we show that contact friction is essential for having DST. Above a critical volume fraction, we observe the existence of two states: a low viscosity, contactless (hence, frictionless) state, and a high viscosity frictional shear jammed state. These two states are separated by a critical shear stress, associated with a critical shear rate where DST occurs. The shear jammed state is reminiscent of the jamming phase of granular matter. Continuous shear thickening is seen as a lower volume fraction vestige of the jamming transition.
We present a comprehensive study of the slip and flow of concentrated colloidal suspensions using cone-plate rheometry and simultaneous confocal imaging. In the colloidal glass regime, for smooth, non-stick walls, the solid nature of the suspension causes a transition in the rheology from Herschel-Bulkley (HB) bulk flow behavior at large stress to a Bingham-like slip behavior at low stress, which is suppressed for sufficient colloid-wall attraction or colloid-scale wall roughness. Visualization shows how the slip-shear transition depends on gap size and the boundary conditions at both walls and that partial slip persist well above the yield stress. A phenomenological model, incorporating the Bingham slip law and HB bulk flow, fully accounts for the behavior. Microscopically, the Bingham law is related to a thin (sub-colloidal) lubrication layer at the wall, giving rise to a characteristic dependence of slip parameters on particle size and concentration. We relate this to the suspensions osmotic pressure and yield stress and also analyze the influence of van der Waals interaction. For the largest concentrations, we observe non-uniform flow around the yield stress, in line with recent work on bulk shear-banding of concentrated pastes. We also describe residual slip in concentrated liquid suspensions, where the vanishing yield stress causes coexistence of (weak) slip and bulk shear flow for all measured rates.
Transport properties of dense fluids are fundamentally challenging, because the powerful approaches of equilibrium statistical physics cannot be applied. Polar fluids compound this problem, because the long-range interactions preclude the use of a simple effect-diameter approach based solely on hard spheres. Here, we develop a kinetic theory for dipolar hard-sphere fluids that is valid up to high density. We derive a mathematical approximation for the radial distribution function at contact directly from the equation of state, and use it to obtain the shear viscosity. We also perform molecular-dynamics simulations of this system and extract the shear viscosity numerically. The theoretical results compare favorably to the simulations.
The phenomenon of shear-induced jamming is a factor in the complex rheological behavior of dense suspensions. Such shear-jammed states are fragile, i.e., they are not stable against applied stresses that are incompatible with the stress imposed to create them. This peculiar flow-history dependence of the stress response is due to flow-induced microstructures. To examine jammed states realized under constant shear stress, we perform dynamic simulations of non-Brownian particles with frictional contact forces and hydrodynamic lubrication forces. We find clear signatures that distinguish these fragile states from the more conventional isotropic jammed states.