Shear thickening of cornstarch suspensions as a reentrant jamming transition

We study the rheology of cornstarch suspensions, a non-Brownian particle system that exhibits shear thickening. From magnetic resonance imaging velocimetry and classical rheology it follows that as a function of the applied stress the suspension is first solid (yield stress), then liquid, and then solid again when it shear thickens. For the onset of thickening we find that the smaller the gap of the shear cell, the lower the shear rate at which thickening occurs. Shear thickening can then be interpreted as the consequence of dilatancy: the system under flow wants to dilate but instead undergoes a jamming transition because it is confined, as confirmed by measurement of the dilation of the suspension as a function of the shear rate.     

Dynamics of polymers in flowing colloidal suspensions

Using hydrodynamic simulations we examine the behavior of single polymers in a confined colloidal suspension under flow. We study the conformations of both, collapsed and noncollapsed polymers. Our results show that the presence of the colloids has a pronounced effect on the unfolding and refolding cycles of collapsed polymers, but does not have a large effect for noncollapsed polymers. Further inspection of the conformations reveals that the strong flow around the colloids and the direct physical compressions exerted on a globular polymer diffusing in between colloidal shear bands largely facilitate the initiation and unraveling of the globular chains. These results are important for rheological studies of (bio)polymer-(bio)colloid mixtures.     

Elastic waves in suspensions

A model of heterogeneous medium taking into account the friction between the particles and liquid, as well as the relaxation of the small-size particles to the equilibrium on the stress, has been proposed to describe the propagation of the elastic waves in a suspension. A system of wave equations describing the propagation of a plane longitudinal wave has been formulated for the components of the medium. Analytical expressions for the sound velocity in a suspension has been obtained in the approximation in which the particles are completely carried away by liquid in the limiting cases in which the particles are in equilibrium under stress with the liquid or equilibrium is absent. The dependence of the sound velocity in the medium on the volumetric portion and the size of the inclusions has been studied. The obtained results agree with the experimental data and obtained analytical expressions for the sound velocity. The dynamics of the components of the medium at the propagation of the plane longitudinal monochromatic wave has been studied.     

Ultrasonic waves in diluted and densified suspensions

A theory of propagation of stress waves in diluted and densified suspensions is developed to make the theoretical basis for analysis of ultrasonic waves through these media. The formulae for the phase velocity and the attenuation coefficient are determined as the function of wave frequency and the suspension structure parameter, which is the volume or mass fraction of the solid phase. These formulae can be use, after suitable calibration, for determination of the solid volume fraction in diluted suspensions, and the solid mass fraction or the water content in densified suspensions, that is, parameters that characterize the structure of a suspension. These structure parameters can be determined by measuring the transition time of ultrasonic wave through a given distance of suspension. The phase velocity dispersion curves and the attenuation coefficients determined theoretically and experimentally are plotted as a function of the volume fraction of the solid phase for dilute suspension, or the solid mass fraction for densified suspension.     

Ultrasonic waves in diluted and densified suspensions

A theory of propagation of stress waves in diluted and densified suspensions is developed to make the theoretical basis for analysis of ultrasonic waves through these media. The formulae for the phase velocity and the attenuation coefficient are determined as the function of wave frequency and the suspension structure parameter, which is the volume or mass fraction of the solid phase. These formulae can be use, after suitable calibration, for determination of the solid volume fraction in diluted suspensions, and the solid mass fraction or the water content in densified suspensions, that is, parameters that characterize the structure of a suspension. These structure parameters can be determined by measuring the transition time of ultrasonic wave through a given distance of suspension. The phase velocity dispersion curves and the attenuation coefficients determined theoretically and experimentally are plotted as a function of the volume fraction of the solid phase for dilute suspension, or the solid mass fraction for densified suspension.     

Roll stability catastrophe mechanism of a flooded ship on regular sea waves

Based on a typical one-free-degree ship roll motion equation, the cusp catastrophe model is built including the bifurca- tion set equation, splitting factor ＇u＇ and regular factor ＇v＇, where both ＇u＇ and ＇v＇ are further expressed with typical flooded ship parameters. Then, the roll catastrophe mechanism is analyzed mainly by means of ＇u＇, under the given parameters of a typical trawler boat. The aim of this research is to reveal the mutagenic mechanism of the roll stability and provide a reference for improving ship roll stability.     

Scattering of ultrasonic shock waves in suspensions of silica nanoparticles

Experiments are carried out to assess, for the first time, the validity of a generalized Burgers' equation, introduced first by Davidson [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 54, 1331-1342 (1973)] to compute the nonlinear propagation of finite amplitude acoustical waves in suspensions of "rigid" particles. Silica nanoparticles of two sizes (33 and 69 nm) have been synthesized in a water-ethanol mixture and precisely characterized via electron microscopy. An acoustical beam of high amplitude is generated at 1 MHz inside a water tank, leading to the formation of acoustical shock waves through nonlinear steepening. The signal is then measured after propagation in a cylinder containing either a reference solution or suspensions of nanoparticles. In this way, a "nonlinear attenuation" is obtained and compared to the numerical solution of a generalized Burgers' equation adapted to the case of hydrosols. An excellent agreement (corresponding to an error on the particles size estimation of 3 nm) is achieved in the frequency range from 1 to 40 MHz. Both visco-inertial and thermal scattering are significant in the present case, whereas thermal effects can generally be neglected for most hydrosols. This is due to the value of the specific heat ratio of water-ethanol mixture which significantly differs from unity.     

MHD waves and instabilities in flowing solar flux-tube plasmas in the framework of Hall magnetohydrodynamics

It is well established now that the solar atmosphere, from photosphere to the corona and the solar wind is a highly structured medium. Satellite observations have confirmed the presence of steady flows. Here, we investigate the parallel propagation of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) surface waves travelling along an ideal incompressible flowing plasma slab surrounded by flowing plasma environment in the framework of the Hall magnetohydrodynamics. The propagation properties of the waves are studied in a reference frame moving with the mass flow outside the slab. In general, flows change the waves’ phase velocities compared to their magnitudes in a static MHD plasma slab and the Hall effect limits the range of waves’ propagation. On the other hand, when the relative Alfvénic Mach number is negative, the flow extends the waves propagation range beyond that limit (owing to the Hall effect) and can cause the triggering of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability whose onset begins at specific critical wave numbers. It turns out that the interval of Alfvénic Mach numbers for which the surface modes are unstable critically depends on the ratio between mass densities outside and inside the flux tube.     

Phase shift and attenuation characteristics of acoustic waves in a flowing gas confined by cylindrical walls

Wave propagation in flowing ideal gases confined by cylindrical waveguides is described in the low-frequency range using an iterative Frobenius series expansion method. The primary concern is to present a mathematical model enabling any radial-dependent flow profile to be analyzed. In contrast to previous analytical results, the present model is applicable in the general case where cubic and higher order terms in the axial acoustic velocity become important and to examine the influence of a non-vanishing radial velocity term. As a numerical test case, it is found that a gas flow velocity w(r)—for simplifying reasons assumed to be a linear combination of a flat flow profile and a parabolic flow profile corresponding to a mean flow equal to —is well approximated by a flat flow profile of the same mean flow value at low shear wavenumbers and at higher shear wavenumbers (calculations were done for shear wavenumbers up to 8). In actual fact, the error introduced by making this mean flow approximation is smaller than the error introduced by neglecting the radial velocity term.     

Propagation of ultrasonic waves in suspensions and emulsions: 1. Investigation of emulsions and pigment suspensions by an acoustic method

An experimental study of dispersed systems, particularly suspensions, is documented. The results were obtained by an acoustic method having certain advantages over other tests. The method was used with two interferometers working at ultrasonic frequencies as the main sources of information. Application of the measurements of ultrasonic velocity and absorption coefficient is considered.     

Permittivity of suspensions

The permittivity of a suspension treated as a system of hard spheres is calculated in the Born approximation. The structure of the suspension is described by the Percus-Yevick correlation function. The permittivity of the system under consideration is expressed through a nonlocal susceptibility whose spatial extension is determined by the form factor of suspension particles and the characteristic value of the structure factor. It is shown that the permittivity of the suspension mixture is characterized by a spatial dispersion that manifests itself already in the first order of the perturbation theory. It is demonstrated that the concentration dependences of the extinction length and the transport length calculated from the obtained data on the permittivity tensor exhibit substantially nonlinear behavior. Within the range of applicability of the theory, the results obtained are in agreement with available experimental data.     

Propagation of ultrasonic waves in suspensions and emulsions 2. Relation between ultrasonic properties and certain characteristics of the medium

The results obtained in the measurement of ultrasound velocity and absorption coefficient in pigment suspensions merit an attempt to interpret the functional dependence of these ultrasonic properties on suspension concentration and dispersion degree.     

Cluster generation from flowing plasma

The method of generation of cluster beams is analyzed in the regime when large clusters grow in a flow of a dense afterglow plasma and clusters are formed in a narrow region near the axis of this flow. This method gives a high intensity of the cluster beam in comparison with standard methods of cluster generation. Numerical parameters are evaluated for processes involving iridium clusters in an argon plasma.