Session S2: Rheology of Dense Particulate Media

Flow of colloidal suspensions and gels

Our recent studies of yield of colloidal gels under shear show that yield in such gels occurs in distinct stages. Under fixed stress, yield follows a finite delay period of slow solid-like creep. Post yield, the gel fluidizes and may undergo long-time viscous flow or, in some cases, may re-solidify. Under imposed strain rate, the transition from equilibrium to long-time flow is characterized by one or more stress overshoots, signifying a yield process here as well. These rheological changes are accompanied by evolution in morphology and dynamics of the gel network. Similar regimes have been observed in gels subjected to gravitational forcing; the gel initially supports its own weight, or perhaps undergoes slow, weak compaction. This may be followed by a sudden transition to rapid compaction or sedimentation. Various models have been put forth to explain these behaviors based on structural evolution, but this detail is difficult to observe in experiment. Here we examine the detailed microstructural evolution and rheology of reversible colloidal gels as they deform under gravity, identifying the critical buoyant force at which yield occurs, the role played by ongoing gel coarsening, and similarities and differences compared to yield under shear.   

Linking Microstructural Changes to Bulk Behavior in Shear Disordered Matter

Soft and biological materials often exhibit disordered and heterogeneous microstructure. In most cases, the transmission and distribution of stresses through these complex materials reflects their inherent heterogeneity. Through the combination of rheology and 4D imaging we can directly alter and quantify the connection between microstructure and local stresses. We subject soft and biological materials to precise shear deformations while measuring real space information about the distribution and redistribution of the applied stress.\\ \\ In this talk, I will focus on the flow behavior of two distinct but related disordered materials; a flowing compressed emulsion above its yield stress and a strained collagen network. In the emulsion system, I will present experimental and computational results on the dynamical response, at the level of individual droplets, that directly links the particle motion and deformation to the rheology. I will also present results that utilize boundary stress microscopy to quantify the spatial distribution of surface stresses that arise from sheared in-vitro collagen networks. I will outline our main conclusions which is that the strain stiffening behavior observed in collagen networks can be parameterized by a single characteristic strain and associated stress. This characteristic rheological signature seems to describe both the strain stiffening regime and network yielding.   

Nonlinear and nonlocal rheology of jammed matter

Emulsions, foams, and grains all jam into a weakly elastic state when confined by pressure. By now the mechanics of jammed matter is well understood in the case of slow, weak, and homogeneous forcing -- but in reality, it is rare for all three of these assumptions to hold. Here we demonstrate the complex rheology that results when jammed materials are forced at finite rate, finite amplitude, and finite wavelength. Using computer simulations, we subject dense soft sphere packings to a host of rheological tests, including stress relaxation, flow start-up, oscillatory shear, and standing wave forcing. These allow us to tease apart the influence of viscous, nonlinear, and nonlocal effects, and also to probe the link between particle dynamics and bulk response. We identify strain, time, and length scales that depend critically on the distance to the jamming transition, and which govern the onset of shear thinning, strain softening, and gradient elasticity.   

Effects of confinement on nanoparticle flows

The transport properties of nanoparticles that are dispersed in complex fluids and flowed through narrow confining geometries affect a wide range of materials shaping and forming processes, including three-dimensional printing and nanocomposite processing. Here, I will describe two sets of experiments in which we use optical microscopy to probe the structure and transport properties of suspensions of particles that are confined geometrically. First, we investigate the structure and flow properties of dense suspensions of submicron particles, in which the particles interact via an entropic depletion attraction, that are confined in thin films and microchannels. Second, we characterize the transport properties of nanoparticles, dispersed at low concentration in water or in aqueous solutions of high-molecular weight polymers, that are confined in regular arrays of nanoposts or in disordered porous media. I will discuss our results and their practical implications for materials processing as well as for other applications that require confined transport of nanomaterials through complex media.