We investigate the nonlinear rheological behavior of colloidal suspensions of Laponite, a synthetic clay, driven by steady homogeneous shear strain. We show that the external drive leads to drastic slowing down of the aging dynamics or even, in some cases, in rejuvenation of the system. Under shear, after a surprisingly long time, the spontaneous aging process observed at rest is suppressed. Th...

The shape dynamics of soft, elastic particles in an unbounded simple shear flow is investigated theoretically under Stokes flow conditions. Three types of motion-steady-state, trembling, and tumbling-are predicted, depending on the shear rate, elastic shear modulus, and initial particle shape. The steady-state motion is found to be always stable. In addition, the existence of a trembling regime...

We use computer simulations to test the freezing-point scaling relationship between equilibrium transport coefficients (self-diffusivity, viscosity) and thermodynamic parameters for soft sphere fluids. The fluid particles interact via the inverse-power potential (IPP), and the particle softness is changed by modifying the exponent of the distance-dependent potential term. In the case of IPP flu...

Concentrated aqueous cornstarch (CS) suspensions are often used to demonstrate an extreme example of shear thickening rheological behaviour. Here, we describe the increased rheological complexity that occurs on the addition of poly(propylene glycol) 10 (PPG) to an aqueous CS suspension. The appearance of shear thickening/jamming, shear thinning, yield stress and near-Newtonian behaviours is dep...

The migration of a sphere in the pressure-driven channel flow of a viscoelastic fluid is studied numerically. The effects of inertia, elasticity, shear-thinning viscosity, secondary flows and the blockage ratio are considered by conducting fully resolved direct numerical simulations over a wide range of parameters. In a Newtonian fluid in the presence of inertial effects, the particle moves awa...

The formation of a thin film by (i) the slow penetration of a gas bubble into a liquid filled tube, (ii) the withdrawal of a planar substrate from a liquid filled gap, is investigated theoretically for the cases of both Newtonian and shear thinning liquids; the latter conforming to either a power law or Ellis model. Formulated as a boundary value problem underpinned by lubrication theory, the a...

Injectable hydrogels have gained popularity as a vehicle for the delivery of cells, growth factors, and other molecules to localize and improve their retention at the injection site, as well as for the mechanical bulking of tissues. However, there are many factors, such as viscosity, storage and loss moduli, and injection force, to consider when evaluating hydrogels for such applications. There...

We consider the stationary flow of a heat conducting Power Law shear thinning fluid in a bounded domain in R2. We present an elementary proof of existence of at least one weak solution.

Human saliva consists of water, glycoproteins, enzymes, antimicrobial substances and electrolytes. From biophysical point of view, saliva is a viscoelastic fluid with distinct surface activity. Commercial artificial saliva used in salivary gland disorders should resemble normal saliva in biophysical properties. In this study we evaluated the biophysical properties of saliva and existing saliva ...