Brownian dynamics simulations of an order-disorder transition in sheared sterically stabilized colloidal suspensions

Journal Article · Thu May 14 04:00:00 EDT 1992 · Journal of Physical Chemistry

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/j100189a014· OSTI ID:411973

Rigos, A A ^[1]; Wilemski, G ^[2]

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1. Merrimack College, North Andover, MA (United States)
2. Physical Sciences, Inc., Andover, MA (United States)

The shear thinning behavior of a sterically stabilized nonaqueous colloidal suspension was investigated using nonequilibrium Brownian dynamics simulations of systems with 108 and 256 particles. At a volume fraction of 0.4, the suspension is thixotropic: it has a reversible shear thinning transition from a disordered state to an ordered, lamellar state with triangularly packed strings of particles. The time scale for the transition is set by the free particle diffusion constant. For the smaller system, the transition occurs gradually with increasing shear rate. For the larger system, the transition is sharp and discontinuous shear thinning is found. 34 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 411973
• Journal Information: Journal of Physical Chemistry, Journal Name: Journal of Physical Chemistry Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 96; ISSN JPCHAX; ISSN 0022-3654
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

40 CHEMISTRY
66 PHYSICS
BROWNIAN MOVEMENT
MOLECULAR DYNAMICS METHOD
ORDER-DISORDER TRANSFORMATIONS
SUSPENSIONS