We investigate stresses and particle motion during the start up of flow in a colloidal dispersion close to arrest into a glassy state. A combination of molecular dynamics simulation, mode coupling theory and confocal microscopy experiment is used to investigate the origins of the widely observed stress overshoot and (previously not reported) super-diffusive motion in the transient dynamics. A link between the macro-rheological stress versus strain curves and the microscopic particle motion is established. Negative correlations in the transient auto-correlation function of the potential stresses are found responsible for both phenomena, and arise even for homogeneous flows and almost Gaussian particle displacements.
A recently proposed schematic model for the non--linear rheology of dense colloidal dispersions is compared to flow curves measured in suspensions that consist of thermosensitive particles. The volume fraction of this purely repulsive model system can be adjusted by changing temperature. Hence, high volume fractions ($ϕ\leq 0.63$) can be achieved in a reproducible manner. The quantitative analysis of the flow curves suggests that the theoretical approach captures the increase of the low shear viscosity with increasing density, the shear thinning for increasing shear rate, and the yielding of a…
Using fast confocal microscopy we image the three-dimensional dynamics of particles in a yielded hard-sphere colloidal glass under steady shear. The structural relaxation, observed in regions with uniform shear, is nearly isotropic but is distinctly different from that of quiescent metastable colloidal fluids. The inverse relaxation time $τ_α^{-1}$ and diffusion constant $D$, as functions of the {\it local} shear rate $\dotγ$, show marked shear thinning with $τ_α^{-1} \propto D \propto \dotγ^{0.8}$ over more than two decades in $\dotγ$. In contrast, the {\it global} rheology of the system disp…
The reversible aggregates formation in a shear thickening, concentrated colloidal suspension is investigated through speckle visibility spectroscopy, a dynamic light scattering technique recently introduced [P.K. Dixon and D.J. Durian, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 184302 (2003)]. Formation of particles aggregates is observed in the jamming regime, and their relaxation after shear cessation is monitored as a function of the applied shear stress. The aggregates relaxation time increases when a larger stress is applied. Several phenomena have been proposed to interpret this behavior: an increase of the a…
The nonlinear rheological properties of dense colloidal suspensions under steady shear are discussed within a first principles approach. It starts from the Smoluchowski equation of interacting Brownian particles in a given shear flow, derives generalized Green-Kubo relations, which contain the transients dynamics formally exactly, and closes the equations using mode coupling approximations. Shear thinning of colloidal fluids and dynamical yielding of colloidal glasses arise from a competition between a slowing down of structural relaxation, because of particle interactions, and enhanced decorr…
It has recently been shown that in a broad class of disordered systems oscillatory shear training can embed memories of specific shear protocols in relevant physical parameters such as the yield strain. These shear protocols can be used to change the physical properties of the system and memories of the protocol can later be "read" out. Here we investigate shear training memories in colloidal gels, which include an attractive interaction and network structure, and discover that such systems can support memories both along and orthogonal to the training flow direction. We use oscillatory shear …
In this paper we analyze the changes in the microscopic dynamics of a colloidal glass submitted to an oscillatory shear. We use Multispeckle diffusing Wave Spectroscopy to monitor the transient dynamical regimes following a shear application. We show that the system displays a spontaneous aging that is amplified by a low amplitude oscillation (overaging) but stopped by a high amplitude one (rejuvenation). Intermediate amplitudes drive the system into a dynamical state that cannot be reached through spontaneous evolution. We demonstrate that theses systems present a weak long term memory and th…
A model of shear thickening in dense suspensions of Brownian soft sphere colloidal particles is established. It suggests that shear thickening in soft sphere suspensions can be interpreted as a shear induced phase transition. Based on a Landau model of the coagulation transition of stabilized colloidal particles, taking the coupling between order parameter fluctuations and the local strain-field into account, the model suggests the occurrence of clusters of coagulated particles (subcritical bubbles) by applying a continuous shear perturbation.The critical shear stress of shear thickening in so…
The nonlinear rheological properties of dense suspensions are discussed within simplified models, suggested by a recent first principles approach to the model of Brownian particles in a constant-velocity-gradient solvent flow. Shear thinning of colloidal fluids and dynamical yielding of colloidal glasses arise from a competition between a slowing down of structural relaxation, because of particle interactions, and enhanced decorrelation of fluctuations, caused by the shear advection of density fluctuations. A mode coupling approach is developed to explore the shear-induced suppression of parti…
The aging dynamics after shear rejuvenation in a glassy, charged clay suspension have been investigated through dynamic light scattering (DLS). Two different aging regimes are observed: one is attained if the sample is rejuvenated before its gelation and one after the rejuvenation of the gelled sample. In the first regime, the application of shear fully rejuvenates the sample, as the system dynamics soon after shear cessation follow the same aging evolution characteristic of normal aging. In the second regime, aging proceeds very fast after shear rejuvenation, and classical DLS cannot be used.…
We show that the shear-induced solidification of dilute charge-stabilized (DLVO) colloids is due to the interplay between the shear-induced formation and breakage of large non-Brownian clusters. While their size is limited by breakage, their number density increases with the shearing-time. Upon flow cessation, the dense packing of clusters interconnects into a rigid state by means of grainy bonds, each involving a large number of primary colloidal bonds. The emerging picture of shear-driven solidification in dilute colloidal suspensions combines the gelation of Brownian systems with the jammin…
We report the modifications of the microscopic dynamics of a colloidal glass submitted to shear. We use multispeckle diffusing wave spectroscopy to monitor the evolution of the spontaneous slow relaxation processes after the sample have been submitted to various straining. We show that high shear rejuvenates the system and accelerates its dynamics whereas moderate shear overage the system. We analyze this phenomena within the frame of the Bouchaud's trap model.
Vorticity aligned cylindrical flocs of carbon black particles are coincident with a primary shear thickening transition in steady flow and also appear as transient structures in the flow response of gels produced by a secondary shear thickening at high shear rates.
We examine microstructural and mechanical changes which occur during oscillatory shear flow and reformation after flow cessation of an intermediate volume fraction colloidal gel using rheometry and Brownian Dynamics (BD) simulations. A model depletion colloid-polymer mixture is used, comprising of a hard sphere colloidal suspension with the addition of non-adsorbing linear polymer chains. Results reveal three distinct regimes depending on the strain amplitude of oscillatory shear. Large shear strain amplitudes fully break the structure which results into a more homogenous and stronger gel afte…
Using Brownian dynamics simulations we perform a systematic investigation of the shear-induced migration of colloidal particles subject to Poiseuille flow in both cylindrical and planar geometry. We find that adding an attractive component to the interparticle interaction enhances the migration effect, consistent with recent simulation studies of platelet suspensions. Monodisperse, bidisperse and polydisperse systems are studied over a range of shear rates, considering both steady states and the transient dynamics arising from the onset of flow. For bidisperse and polydisperse systems size seg…
A confined colloidal glass, under the imposition of a uniform shear stress, is investigated using numerical simulations. Both at macro- and microscales, the consequent dynamics during the onset of flow is studied. When the imposed stress is gradually decreased, the time scale for the onset of steady flow diverges, associated with long-lived spatial heterogeneities. Near this yield-stress regime, persistent creep in the form of shear-banded structures is observed.
A theory is presented for the onset of shear thickening in colloidal suspensions of particles, stabilized by an electrostatic repulsion. Based on an activation model a critical shear stress can be derived for the onset of shear thickening in dense suspensions for a constant potential and a constant charge approach of the spheres. Unlike previous models the total interaction potential is taken into account (sum of attraction and repulsion). The critical shear stress is related to the maximum of the total interaction potential scaled by the free volume per particle. A comparison with experimenta…
We assess the possibility of shear banding of semidilute rod-like colloidal suspensions under steady shear ow very close to the isotropic-nematic spinodal, using a combination of rheology, small angle neutron scattering, and laser Doppler velocimetry. Model systems are employed which allow for a length and stiffness variation of the particles. The rheological signature reveals that these systems are strongly shear thinning at moderate shear rates. It is shown that the longest and most flexible rods undergo the strongest shear thinning and have the greatest potential to form shear bands. Althou…
We present a comprehensive rheological study of a suspension of thermosensitive particles dispersed in water. The volume fraction of these particles can be adjusted by the temperature of the system in a continuous fashion. Due to the finite polydispersity of the particles (standard deviation: 17%), crystallization is suppressed and no fluid-crystal transition intervenes. Hence, the moduli $G'$ and $G"$ in the linear viscoelastic regime as well as the flow curves (shear stress $σ(\dotγ)$ as the function of the shear rate $\dotγ$) could be measured in the fluid region up to the vicinity of the g…
Cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) can be considered as model colloidal rods and have practical applications in the formation of soft materials with tailored anisotropy. Here, we employ two contrasting microfluidic devices to quantitatively elucidate the role of shearing and extensional flows on the alignment of a dilute CNC dispersion. Characterization of the flow field by micro-particle image velocimetry is coupled to flow-induced birefringence analysis to quantify the deformation rate--alignment relationship. The deformation rate required for CNC alignment is 4$\times$ smaller in extension than i…
Shear history plays an important role in determining the linear and nonlinear rheological response of colloidal gels and can be used for tuning their structure and flow properties. Increasing colloidal particle aspect ratio lowers the critical volume fraction for gelation due to an increase of the particle excluded volume. Using a combination of rheology and confocal microscopy we investigate the effect of steady and oscillatory pre-shear history on the structure and rheology of colloidal gels formed by silica spheres and rods of length L and diameter D (L/D = 10) dispersed in 11 M CsCl soluti…
Using high-speed confocal microscopy, we measure the particle positions in a colloidal suspension under large amplitude oscillatory shear. Using the particle positions we quantify the in situ anisotropy of the pair-correlation function -- a measure of the Brownian stress. From these data, we find two distinct types of responses as the system crosses over from equilibrium to far-from-equilibrium states. The first is a nonlinear amplitude saturation that arises from shear-induced advection, while the second is a linear frequency saturation due to competition between suspension relaxation and she…
Employing a recently developed dynamical density functional theory we study the response of a colloidal sediment above a wall to shear, demonstrating the time dependent changes of the density distribution and its center-of-mass after switching shear either on or off and under oscillatory shear. Following the onset of steady shear we identify two dynamical mechanisms, distinguished by their timescales. Shortly after the onset, a transient enhancement of the packing structure at the wall reflects the self-organization into lanes. On a much longer timescale these effects are transmitted to the bu…
When amorphous solids are strained they display elastic deformation at small strain, however, beyond a critical strain they yield and begin to flow plastically. The origin of this plasticity lies in the irreversible rearrangement of particles. Such rearrangements have been shown to give rise to a long-ranged quadrupolar strain field, similar to Eshebly's spherical inclusions. However, their spatio-temporal organisation at finite temperatures and finite shear rate remains unclear. Here, we have investigated the strain field in sheared colloidal glasses. We show that the strain field in homogene…
Using a novel bi-axial confocal rheoscope, we investigate the structure and rheology of sheared colloidal suspensions under confinement. Consistent with previous work [X. Cheng \textit{et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A.}, 2011, 109, 63], we observe a vorticity-aligned string phase in moderate concentrated colloidal suspensions under uniaxial shear. Using bi-axial shear protocols, we directly manipulate the orientation and morphology of the string structures. Simultaneously, we measure the suspension rheology along both the flow and vorticity directions with a bi-axial force measurement de…
Using a dynamical density functional theory we analyze the density profile of a colloidal liquid near a wall under shear flow. Due to the symmetries of the system considered, the naive application of dynamical density functional theory does not lead to a shear induced modification of the equilibrium density profile, which would be expected on physical grounds. By introducing a physically motivated dynamic mean field correction we incorporate the missing shear induced interparticle forces into the theory. We find that the shear flow tends to enhance the oscillations in the density profile of ha…
We use Brownian Dynamics simulations in combination with the umbrella sampling technique to study the effect of shear flow on homogeneous crystal nucleation. We find that a homogeneous shear rate leads to a significant suppression of the crystal nucleation rate and to an increase of the size of the critical nucleus. A simple, phenomenological extension of classical nucleation theory accounts for these observations. The orientation of the crystal nucleus is tilted with respect to the shear direction.
We demonstrate that application of an increasing shear field on a glass leads to an intriguing dynamic first order transition in analogy to equilibrium transitions. By following the particle dynamics as a function of the driving field in a colloidal glass, we identify a critical shear rate upon which the diffusion time scale of the glass exhibits a sudden discontinuity. Using a new dynamic order parameter, we show that this discontinuity is analogous to a first order transition, in which the applied stress acts as the conjugate field on the system's dynamic evolution. These results offer new p…
Colloidal suspensions have a rich rheology and can exhibit shear-thinning as well as shear-thickening. Numerical simulations recently suggested that shear-thickening may be attributed to the inertia of the colloids, besides the hydrodynamic interactions between them. Here, we consider the ideal limit of a dense bath of soft colloids following an underdamped Langevin dynamics. We use a mean-field equation for the colloidal density to get an analytical expression of the drag force felt by a probe pulled at constant velocity through the suspension. Our results show that inertia can indeed induce …
We investigate the nonequilibrium behavior of dense, plastic-crystalline suspensions of mildly anisotropic colloidal hard dumbbells under the action of an oscillatory shear field by employing Brownian dynamics computer simulations. In particular, we extend previous investigations, where we uncovered novel nonequilibrium phase transitions, to other aspect ratios and to a larger nonequilibrium parameter space, that is, a wider range of strains and shear frequencies. We compare and discuss selected results in the context of novel scattering and rheological experiments. Both simulations and experi…
By means of classical density functional theory and its dynamical extension, we consider a colloidal fluid with spherically-symmetric competing interactions, which are well known to exhibit a rich bulk phase behavior. This includes complex three-dimensional periodically ordered cluster phases such as lamellae, two-dimensional hexagonally packed cylinders, gyroid structures or spherical micelles. While the bulk phase behavior has been studied extensively in earlier work, in this paper we focus on such structures confined between planar repulsive walls under shear flow. For sufficiently high she…
We study the designing principles of the simplest colloidal propeller, an architecture built from four identical spheres that can couple translation with rotation to produce controlled drift motion. By considering superparamagnetic beads, we show that the simultaneous action of a magnetic field and a shear flow leads to the migration of the cluster in the vorticity direction. We investigate the dependence of the migration velocity on the geometrical parameters of the cluster, and find that significant cluster separation can be achieved under the typical operation conditions of microfluidic dev…
A Landau theory is presented for the structural transition of electrically stabilized colloidal crystals under shear. The model suggests that a structural transition from an ordered layered colloidal crystal into a disordered structure occurs at a critical shear stress. The shear induced structural transition is related to a change of the rheological properties caused by the variation of the microstructure which can be verified by scattering experiments. The theory is used to establish the shape of the flow curves. A good qualitative agreement with experimental results can be achieved, while a…
Dilute oil dispersions of fractal carbon black particles with attractive Van der Waals interactions display continuous shear thickening followed by shear thinning at high shear rates. The shear thickening transition occurs at $\dotγ_{c}\approx 10^{2}-10^{3}s^{-1}$ and is driven by hydrodynamic breakup of clusters. Pre-shearing dispersions at shear rates $\dotγ>\dotγ_{c}$ produces enhanced-modulus gels where $G' \sim σ_{pre-shear}^{1.5-2}$ and is directly proportional to the residual stress in the gel measured at a fixed sample age. The observed data can be accounted for using a simple scaling …
We show that geometric confinement dramatically affects the shear-induced configurations of dense mono-disperse colloidal suspensions; a new structure emerges, where layers of particles buckle to stack in a more efficient packing. The volume fraction in the shear zone is controlled by a balance between the viscous stresses and the osmotic pressure of a contacting reservoir of unsheared particles. We present a model that accounts for our observations and helps elucidate the complex interplay between particle packing and shear stress for confined suspensions.
In directionally-dried colloidal dispersions regular bands can appear behind the drying front, inclined at $\pm45^\circ$ to the drying line. Although these features have been noted to share visual similarities to shear bands in metal, no physical mechanism for their formation has ever been suggested, until very recently. Here, through microscopy of silica and polystyrene dispersions, dried in Hele-Shaw cells, we demonstrate that the bands are indeed associated with local shear strains. We further show how the bands form, that they scale with the thickness of the drying layer, and that they are…
The microscopic deformation mechanism of charged colloidal glasses with extended-range interactions under shear is investigated by in-situ small-angle neutron scattering, and a dynamically correlated region (DCR) is identified. This short-lived region provides the resistance to the configurational rearrangement imposed by the external deformation, as evidenced by the evolution of the size of DCR in the shear thinning regime and the quantitative agreement between the local stress sustained by DCR and the macroscopic stress from rheological measurements at low and mediate shear rates. This findi…
We study the coupling between the structural dynamics and rheological response of charged colloidal monolayers at water/oil interfaces, driven into steady shear by a microdisk rotating at a controlled angular velocity. The flow causes particles to layer into rotating concentric rings linked to the local, position-dependent shear rate, which triggers two distinct dynamical regimes: particles move continuously "Flowing") close to the microdisk, or exhibit intermittent "Hopping" between local energy minima farther away. The shear-rate dependent surface viscosity of a monolayer can be extracted fr…
We image the flow of a nearly random close packed, hard-sphere colloidal suspension (a `paste') in a square capillary using confocal microscopy. The flow consists of a `plug' in the center while shear occurs localized adjacent to the channel walls, reminiscent of yield-stress fluid behavior. However, the observed scaling of the velocity profiles with the flow rate strongly contrasts yield-stress fluid predictions. Instead, the velocity profiles can be captured by a theory of stress fluctuations originally developed for chute flow of dry granular media. We verified this behavior both for smooth…
Complex fluids exhibit a variety of exotic flow behaviours under high stresses, such as shear thickening and shear jamming. Rheology is a powerful tool to characterise these flow behaviours over the bulk of the fluid. However, this technique is limited in its ability to probe fluid behaviour in a spatially resolved way. Here, we utilise high-speed imaging and the free-surface geometry in drop impact to study the flow of colloidal suspensions. We report, for the first time, observations of coexisting solid and liquid phases due to shear jamming caused by impact. In addition to observing Newtoni…
This paper adopts a previously developed activation model of shear thickening, published by the authors, to sterically stabilized colloidal suspensions. When particles arranged along the compression axis of a sheared suspension, they may overcome the repulsive interaction and form hydroclusters associated with shear thickening. Taking advantage of the total interaction potential of polymeric brush coating and van der Waals attraction, the applicability of the activation model is shown within the validity range of a continuum theory. For the comparison with an extensive experimental investigati…
The authors previously introduced an activation model for the onset of shear thickening in electrically stabilized colloidal suspensions. It predicts that shear thickening occurs, when particles arranged along the compression axis in a sheared suspension do overcome the electrostatic repulsion at a critical shear stress, and are captured in the primary minimum of the DLVO interaction potential. A comparison with an experimental investigation on non-aqueous silica suspensions, carried out by Maranzano and Wagner, is performed. For particle systems that fall into the applicability range of the t…
Shear thickening is a widespread phenomenon in suspension flow that, despite sustained study, is still the subject of much debate. The longstanding view that shear thickening is due to hydrodynamic clusters has been challenged by recent theory and simulations suggesting that contact forces dominate, not only in discontinuous, but also in continuous shear thickening. Here, we settle this dispute using shear reversal experiments on micron-sized silica and latex colloidal particles to measure directly the hydrodynamic and contact force contributions to shear thickening. We find that contact force…
Using Brownian dynamics (BD) simulations and an analytical approach we investigate the shear-induced, nonequilibrium dynamics of dense colloidal suspensions confined to a narrow slit-pore. Focusing on situations where the colloids arrange in well-defined layers with solidlike in-plane structure, the confined films display complex, nonlinear behavior such as collective depinning and local transport via density excitations. These phenomena are reminiscent of colloidal monolayers driven over a periodic substrate potential. In order to deepen this connection, we present an effective model which ma…
A systematic experimental study of dispersions of charged colloidal spheres is presented on the effect of steady shear flow on nucleation and crystal-growth rates. In addition, the non-equilibrium phase diagram as far as the melting line is concerned is measured. Shear flow is found to strongly affect induction times, crystal growth rates and the location of the melting line. The main findings are that (i) the crystal growth rate for a given concentration exhibits a maximum as a function of the shear rate, (ii) contrary to the monotonous increase of the growth rate with increasing concentratio…
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 investigatin…
The flow of colloidal suspensions is ubiquitous in nature and industry. Colloidal suspensions exhibit a wide range of rheological behavior, which should be closely related to the microscopic structure of the systems. With in-situ small-angle neutron scattering complemented by rheological measurements, we investigated the deformation behavior of a charge-stabilized colloidal glass at particle level undergoing steady shear. A short-lived, localized elastic response at particle level, termed as transient elasticity zone (TEZ), was identified from the neutron spectra. The existence of the TEZ is a…
The rheology of dense amorphous materials under large shear strain is not fully understood, partly due to the difficulty of directly viewing the microscopic details of such materials. We use a colloidal suspension to simulate amorphous materials, and study the shear-induced structural relaxation with fast confocal microscopy. We quantify the plastic rearrangements of the particles in several ways. Each of these measures of plasticity reveals spatially heterogeneous dynamics, with localized regions where many particles are strongly rearranging by these measures. We examine the shapes of these r…
We consider the nonlinear rheology of dense colloidal suspensions under a time-dependent simple shear flow. Starting from the Smoluchowski equation for interacting Brownian particles advected by shearing (ignoring fluctuations in fluid velocity) we develop a formalism which enables the calculation of time-dependent, far-from-equilibrium averages. Taking shear-stress as an example we derive exactly a generalized Green-Kubo relation, and an equation of motion for the transient density correlator, involving a three-time memory function. Mode coupling approximations give a closed constitutive equa…
Shear transformations, as fundamental rearrangement events operating in local regions, hold the key of plastic flow of amorphous solids. Despite their importance, the dynamic features of shear transformations are far from clear. Here, we use a colloidal glass under shear as the prototype to directly observe the shear transformation events in real space. By tracing the colloidal particle rearrangements, we quantitatively determine two basic properties of shear transformations: local shear strain and dilatation (or free volume). It is revealed that the local free volume undergoes a significantly…
In this work, we analyzed an isotropic colloidal model incorporating both short-range sticky attractions and long-range electrostatic repulsions. We computed the zero-shear viscosity and second virial coefficient for a dilute colloidal suspension (i.e., pair interactions only) as a function of the strength of attractions and repulsions. We also developed an analytical approximation that allows us to better understand the coupling of the two types of interactions. The attractions and repulsions contribute to the zero-shear viscosity and second virial coefficient in different ways, leading to ca…
Spatial correlations of microscopic fluctuations are investigated via real-space experiments and computer simulations of colloidal glasses under steady shear. It is shown that while the distribution of one-particle fluctuations is always isotropic regardless of the relative importance of shear as compared to thermal fluctuations, their spatial correlations show a marked sensitivity to the competition between shear-induced and thermally activated relaxation. Correlations are isotropic in the thermally dominated regime, but develop strong anisotropy as shear dominates the dynamics of microscopic…
Phase transitions and collective dynamics of active colloidal suspensions are fascinating topics in soft matter physics, particularly for out-of-equilibrium systems, which can lead to rich rheological behaviours in the presence of steady shear flow. In this article, the role of self-propulsion in the rheological response of a dense colloidal suspension is investigated by using particle-resolved simulations. First, the interplay between activity and shear in the solid to the liquid transition of the suspension is analysed. While both self-propulsion and shear destroy order and melt the system b…
We study the order-disorder transition in colloidal suspensions under shear flow by performing Brownian dynamics simulations. We characterize the transition in terms of a statistical property of time-dependent maximum value of the structure factor. We find that its power spectrum exhibits the power-law behaviour only in the ordered phase. The power-law exponent is approximately -2 at frequencies greater than the magnitude of the shear rate, while the power spectrum exhibits the $1 / f$-type fluctuations in the lower frequency regime.
We study the effect of shear on the aging dynamics of a colloidal suspension of synthetic clay particles. We find that a shear of amplitude $γ$ reduces the relaxation time measured just after the cessation of shear by a factor $\exp(-γ/γ_c)$, with $γ_c \sim 5%$, and is independent of the duration and the frequency of the shear. This simple law for the rejuvenation effect shows that the energy involved in colloidal rearrangements is proportional to the shear amplitude, $γ$, rather than $γ^2$, leading to an Eyring-like description of the dynamics of our system.
We use numerical simulations and an athermal quasi-static shear protocol to investigate the yielding of a model colloidal gel. Under increasing deformation, the elastic regime is followed by a significant stiffening before yielding takes place. A space-resolved analysis of deformations and stresses unravel how the complex load curve observed is the result of stress localization and that the yielding can take place by breaking a very small fraction of the network connections. The stiffening corresponds to the stretching of the network chains, unbent and aligned along the direction of maximum ex…
We investigate colloidal suspensions under shear flow through numerical experiments. By measuring the time-correlation function of a bond-orientational order parameter, we find a divergent time scale near a transition point from a disordered fluid phase to an ordered fluid phase, where the order is characterized by a nonzero value of the bond-orientational order parameter. We also present a phase diagram in the $(ρ, \dotγ^{\mathrm{ex}})$ plane, where $ρ$ is the density of the colloidal particles and $\dotγ^{\mathrm{ex}}$ is the shear rate of the solvent. The transition line in the phase diagra…
