Using Acoustic Perturbations to Dynamically Tune Shear Thickening in Colloidal Suspensions

Colloidal suspensions in industrial processes often exhibit shear thickening that is difficult to control actively. Here, we use piezoelectric transducers to apply acoustic perturbations to dynamically tune the suspension viscosity in the shear-thickening regime. We attribute the mechanism of dethic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2019-09, Vol.123 (12), p.1-128001, Article 128001
Main Authors: Sehgal, Prateek, Ramaswamy, Meera, Cohen, Itai, Kirby, Brian J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Colloiding
Colloids
Disruption
Piezoelectric transducers
Piezoelectricity
Shear
Shear thickening (liquids)
System dynamics
Thickening
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Summary:Colloidal suspensions in industrial processes often exhibit shear thickening that is difficult to control actively. Here, we use piezoelectric transducers to apply acoustic perturbations to dynamically tune the suspension viscosity in the shear-thickening regime. We attribute the mechanism of dethickening to the disruption of shear-induced force chains via perturbations that are large relative to the particle roughness scale. The ease with which this technique can be adapted to various flow geometries makes it a powerful tool for actively controlling suspension flow properties and investigating system dynamics.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.128001