We investigate the use of two distinct and complementary approaches to measuring the viscometric properties of low viscosity complex fluids at high shear rates up to 80,000 s−1. Firstly we adapt commercial controlled-stress and controlled-rate rheometers to access elevated shear rates by using parallel plate fixtures with very small gap settings (down to 30 μm). The resulting apparent viscositi...

Graphene has attracted considerable attention due to its characteristics as a 2D material and its fascinating properties, providing a potential building block for nanofabrication. In nanochannels the solid-liquid interface plays a non-negligible role in determining the fluid dynamics. Therefore, for an optimal design of nanofluidic devices, a comprehensive understanding of the slippage in a wat...

We report the results of an investigation into the rheology of solutions of natural spider silk dope (spinning solution). We demonstrate that dilute dope solutions showed only shear thinning as the shear rate increased while more concentrated solutions showed an initial shear thinning followed by a shear thickening and a subsequent decline in viscosity. The critical shear rate for shear thicken...

Quantifying critical conditions of rill formation can be useful for a better understanding of soil erosion processes. Current studies lack a consensus and related rationale on how to describe these conditions. This study was based on the concepts that (1) the shear stress available for erosion at any given point is a function of the runoff rate, the slope steepness, and hydraulic characteristic...

Adiabatic shear localization is a catastrophic failure mechanism which can occur in ductile metals under high strain rate loading. This mechanism is driven by a thermal instability process in which rapid temperature rise due to plastic work couples with thermal softening to cause uniform deformation to collapse into narrow bands of intense shear within which material ductility is exhausted. Adi...

We describe the behaviour of grafted polymer layers in strong solvent shear flows within a model where only a subset of chains are exposed to the flow (hence to the tension arising from hydrodynamic drag forces), leaving the remainder protected. We show that for quite small values of the shear rate, I, the system reaches a self-regulating state where the lowest possible fraction of grafted chai...

A bulk metallic glass forming alloy is subjected to shear flow in its supercooled state by compression of a short rod to produce a flat disk. The resulting material exhibits enhanced crystallization kinetics during isothermal annealing as reflected in the decrease of the crystallization time relative to the nondeformed case. The transition from quiescent to shear-accelerated crystallization is ...

The structure of controlled high-strain-rate shear bands generated in Ti-Si reactive powders has been investigated by means of the radd symmetric collapse of a thick-walled cylinder. Shear localization developed at global strains of 0.2-0.4 and a strain rate of lo4 s-I. Within the shear bands, local shear strains were up to 100 9d local shear strain rates were lo7 s-'. Chemical reactions were i...

Polymerization and gelation of deoxyhemoglobin S makes red blood cells (RBCs) rigid and is the immediate basis of pathogenesis in sickle cell disease. Hence, characterization of hemoglobin S viscosity and its time-dependent development as RBCs pass through the microvasculature is important in understanding pathogenesis. Because RBCs and the intraerythrocytic milieu in vivo are subject to shear,...