Shear-induced breaking of cages in colloidal glasses: Scattering experiments and mode coupling theory

We employ x-ray scattering on sheared colloidal suspensions and mode coupling theory to study structure factor distortions of glass-forming systems under shear. We find a transition from quadrupolar elastic distortion at small strains to quadrupolar and hexadecupolar modes in the stationary state. T...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of chemical physics 2015-07, Vol.143 (3), p.034505-034505
Main Authors: Amann, Christian P, Denisov, Dmitry, Dang, Minh Triet, Struth, Bernd, Schall, Peter, Fuchs, Matthias
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
COUPLING
GLASS
INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
PEAKS
PLASTICS
SHEAR
STRAINS
STRESSES
STRUCTURE FACTORS
SUSPENSIONS
X-RAY DIFFRACTION
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Summary:We employ x-ray scattering on sheared colloidal suspensions and mode coupling theory to study structure factor distortions of glass-forming systems under shear. We find a transition from quadrupolar elastic distortion at small strains to quadrupolar and hexadecupolar modes in the stationary state. The latter are interpreted as signatures of plastic rearrangements in homogeneous, thermalized systems. From their transient evolution with strain, we identify characteristic strain and length-scale values where these plastic rearrangements dominate. This characteristic strain coincides with the maximum of the shear stress versus strain curve, indicating the proliferation of plastic flow. The hexadecupolar modes dominate at the wavevector of the principal peak of the equilibrium structure factor that is related to the cage-effect in mode coupling theory. We hence identify the structural signature of plastic flow of glasses.
ISSN:0021-9606
1089-7690
DOI:10.1063/1.4926932