Universal scaling law for the flow of non-Newtonian colloidal suspension

Published

October 1, 2014

Author(s)

Nicos Martys, William L. George, Maxime Liard, Pascal Hebraud, Didier Lootens

Abstract

It has been observed that flow curves (viscosity vs shear-rate) of spherical non-colloidal particles suspended in a non-Newtonian fluid matrix can be rescaled so as to collapse onto the flow curve of the matrix fluid. This result is surprising given the broad range and spatial heterogeneity of localized shear rates and viscosity in such systems. In this paper, results from experiment and computational modeling are presented that examine the microscopic origins of this scaling behavior. We consider the cases of shear thinning, Newtonian and shear thickening matrix fluids. Over a wide range volume fractions ($5 \%$ to $50 \%$) it is shown that the distribution of localized shear rates can be collapsed onto a single universal curve. The scaling parameters for rescaling the shear rate distributions can be analytically related to the macroscopic rescaling parameters for the viscosity. As a result of this rescaling capability, one may measure the properties of the matrix fluid and predict the macroscopic behavior of the suspension. We discuss the extension of this analysis to non spherical particles.

Citation

Journal of Rheology

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

Rheology, Suspensions, Non-Newtonian Fluids

Citation

Martys, N. , George, W. , Liard, M. , Hebraud, P. and Lootens, D. (2014), Universal scaling law for the flow of non-Newtonian colloidal suspension, Journal of Rheology, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=915220 (Accessed October 6, 2024)