Complex fluid instabilities and flow patterns in shear thickening fluids

Shear thickening fluids display an increase in viscosity with applied stress. In the extreme, the suspension viscosity increases by orders of magnitude, and the material goes from liquid-like to solid-like (Discontinuous Shear Thickening, DST). Shear thickening, and DST in particular, has for decades been an intractable problem in the field of complex fluids and rheology. However, recent breakthroughs have generated much excitement and scientific debate as to the origins of DST, now explained as a transition from lubricated to frictional particle contacts in response to increased stress.

This project will study complex flow patterning and fluid instabilities involving discontinuous shear thickening fluids and relate the observable dynamics to the new theoretical models.
The proposed PhD project is inspired by preliminary observations of novel flow instabilities caused by the shear thickening behaviour of corn starch suspensions. Specifically, the project objectives are to study 1) The formation of roll waves during film flow of shear thickening fluids down inclined surfaces, 2) The free-fall Plateau-Rayleigh instability in liquid jets of DST materials, and 3) The potential formation of density waves travelling against the flow direction (analogous to traffic jam shock waves). The primary experimental variables include suspension density (Objectives 1,2,3), angle of gravity (Objectives 1,3), film thickness (Objectives 1,3), aperture diameter of liquid stream (Objective 2) and imposed pressure (Objective 2). Observables include wavelength, amplitude, space-time diagrams, wave velocities, liquid stream "precession" and droplet formation dynamics.

In parallel with the experimental agenda, we will develop a new simulation code based on the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method in close collaboration with Prof. Ellero at the Basque Center for Applied Mathematics in Spain. The simulation code will be benchmarked against the rich experimental results described above, in addition to standard parallel plate rheological measurements.

The overarching aim of the project is to reveal how the interparticle interactions give rise to DST behaviour which in turn give rise to complex flow dynamics. The project results will contribute to a deeper understanding of how complex flow patterns emerge in shear thickening fluid flows, which will allow optimisation of processing in the food and pharmaceutical sectors.