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At least 1,387 records · Page 77

Generation of mean flows in rotating anisotropic turbulence: The case of solar near-surface shear layer

Results from helioseismology indicate that the radial gradient of the rotation rate in the near-surface shear layer (NSSL) of the Sun is independent of latitude and radius. Theoretical models using the mean-field approach have been successful in explaining this property of the NSSL, while global direct or large-eddy magnetoconvection models have so far been unable to reproduce this. We investigate the reason for this discrepancy by measuring the mean flows, Reynolds stress, and turbulent transport coefficients under conditions mimicking those in the solar NSSL. Simulations with as few ingredients as possible to generate mean flows were studied. These ingredients are inhomogeneity due to boundaries, anisotropic turbulence, and rotation. The parameters of the simulations were chosen such that they matched the weakly rotationally constrained NSSL. The simulations probe locally Cartesian patches of the star at a given depth and latitude. The depth of the patch was varied by changing the rotation rate such that the resulting Coriolis numbers covered the same range as in the NSSL. We measured the turbulent transport coefficient relevant for the nondiffusive (Λ-effect) and diffusive (turbulent viscosity) parts of the Reynolds stress and compared them with predictions of current mean-field theories. A negative radial gradient of the mean flow is generated only at the equator where meridional flows are absent. At other latitudes, the meridional flow is comparable to the mean flow corresponding to differential rotation. We also find that the meridional components of the Reynolds stress cannot be ignored. Additionally, we find that the turbulent viscosity is quenched by rotation by about 50% from the surface to the bottom of the NSSL. Our local simulations do not validate the explanation for the generation of the NSSL from mean-field theory where meridional flows and stresses are neglected. However, the rotational dependence of the turbulent viscosity in our simulations agrees well with theoretical predictions. Moreover, our results agree qualitatively with global convection simulations in that an NSSL can only be obtained near the equator.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Transport in the plateau regime in a tokamak pedestal

In a tokamak H-mode, a strong E Multiplication-Sign B flow shear is generated during the L-H transition. Turbulence in a pedestal is suppressed significantly by this E Multiplication-Sign B flow shear. In this case, neoclassical transport may become important. The neoclassical fluxes are calculated in the plateau regime with the parallel plasma flow using their kinetic definitions. In an axisymmetric tokamak, the neoclassical particles fluxes can be decomposed into the banana-plateau flux and the Pfirsch-Schlueter flux. The banana-plateau particle flux is driven by the parallel viscous force and the Pfirsch-Schlueter flux by the poloidal variation of the friction force. The combined quantity of the radial electric field and the parallel flow is determined by the flux surface averaged parallel momentum balance equation rather than requiring the ambipolarity of the total particle fluxes. In this process, the Pfirsch-Schlueter flux does not appear in the flux surface averaged parallel momentum equation. Only the banana-plateau flux is used to determine the parallel flow in the form of the flux surface averaged parallel viscosity. The heat flux, obtained using the solution of the parallel momentum balance equation, decreases exponentially in the presence of sonic M{sub p} without any enhancement over that in the standard neoclassical theory. Here, M{sub p} is a combination of the poloidal E Multiplication-Sign B flow and the parallel mass flow. The neoclassical bootstrap current in the plateau regime is presented. It indicates that the neoclassical bootstrap current also is related only to the banana-plateau fluxes. Finally, transport fluxes are calculated when M{sub p} is large enough to make the parallel electron viscosity comparable with the parallel ion viscosity. It is found that the bootstrap current has a finite value regardless of the magnitude of M{sub p}.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Diffusional motion of redox centers in carbonate electrolytes

Ferrocene (Fc) and N-(ferrocenylmethyl)-N,N-dimethyl-N-ethylammonium bistrifluoromethyl-sulfonimide (Fc1N112-TFSI) were dissolved in carbonate solvents and self-diffusion coefficients (D) of solutes and solvents were measured by {sup 1}H and {sup 19}F pulsed field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The organic solvents were propylene carbonate (PC), ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC), and a ternary mixture that also includes ethylene carbonate (EC). Results from NMR studies over the temperature range of 0–50 °C and for various concentrations (0.25–1.7 M) of Fc1N112-TFSI are compared to values of D simulated with classical molecular dynamics (MD). The measured self-diffusion coefficients gradually decreased as the Fc1N112-TFSI concentration increased in all solvents. Since TFSI{sup −} has fluoromethyl groups (CF{sub 3}), D{sub TFSI} could be measured separately and the values found are larger than those for D{sub Fc1N112} in all samples measured. The EC, PC, and EMC have the same D in the neat solvent mixture and when Fc is dissolved in EC/PC/EMC at a concentration of 0.2 M, probably due to the interactions between common carbonyl structures within EC, PC, and EMC. A difference in D (D{sub PC} < D{sub EC} < D{sub EMC}), and both a higher E{sub a} for translational motion and higher effective viscosity for PC in the mixture containing Fc1N112-TFSI reflect the interaction between PC and Fc1N112{sup +}, which is a relatively stronger interaction than that between Fc1N112{sup +} and other solvent species. In the EC/PC/EMC solution that is saturated with Fc1N112-TFSI, we find that D{sub PC} = D{sub EC} = D{sub EMC} and Fc1N112{sup +} and all components of the EC/PC/EMC solution have the same E{sub a} for translational motion, while the ratio D{sub EC/PC/EMC}/D{sub Fc1N112} is approximately 3. These results reflect the lack of available free volume for independent diffusion in the saturated solution. The Fc1N112{sup +} transference numbers lie around 0.4 and increase slightly as the temperature is increased in the PC and EMC solvents. The trends observed for D from simulations are in good agreement with experimental results and provide molecular level understanding of the solvation structure of Fc1N112-TFSI dissolved in EC/PC/EMC.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Effects of aspect ratio and concentration on rheology of epoxy suspensions containing model plate-like nanoparticles

Hexagonal 2-dimensional α-zirconium phosphate crystals were prepared with lateral diameters ranging from 110 nm to 1.5 μm to investigate the effect of particle size on suspension rheology. The nanoplatelets were exfoliated to individual sheets with monodisperse thickness and dispersed in a Newtonian epoxy fluid. The steady shear response of dilute and semi-dilute suspensions was measured and compared to expressions obtained from theory for infinitely dilute suspensions. For suspensions containing the smaller nanoplatelets, aspect ratio ∼160, the low shear rate viscosity and transition to shear thinning behavior were well described by theory for loadings up to 0.5 vol. %. The agreement was improved by assuming a moderate polydispersity in lateral diameter, ∼30%–50%, which is consistent with experimental observation. For the higher aspect ratio nanoplatelets, good agreement between theory and experiment was observed only at high shear rates. At lower shear rate, theory consistently over-predicted viscosity, which was attributed to a progressive shift to non-isotropic initial conditions with increasing particle size. The results suggest that at a fixed Peclet number, there is an increasing tendency for the nanoplatelets to form transient, local stacks as particle size increases. The largest particles, aspect ratio ∼2200, showed unusual shear thinning and thickening behaviors that were attributed to particle flexibility. The findings demonstrate the surprising utility of theory for infinitely dilute suspensions to interpret, and in some cases quantitatively describe, the non-Newtonian viscosity of real suspensions containing high aspect ratio plate-like particles. A simple framework is proposed to interpret deviations from ideal behavior based on the local and collective behavior of the suspended nanoplatelets.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Axisymmetric flows from fluid injection into a confined porous medium

In this work, we study the axisymmetric flows generated from fluid injection into a horizontal confined porous medium that is originally saturated with another fluid of different density and viscosity. Neglecting the effects of surface tension and fluid mixing, we use the lubrication approximation to obtain a nonlinear advection-diffusion equation that describes the time evolution of the sharp fluid-fluid interface. The flow behaviors are controlled by two dimensionless groups: M , the viscosity ratio of displaced fluid relative to injected fluid, and Γ , which measures the relative importance of buoyancy and fluid injection. For this axisymmetric geometry, the similarity solution involving R 2 /T (where R is the dimensionless radial coordinate and T is the dimensionless time) is an exact solution to the nonlinear governing equation for all times. Four analytical expressions are identified as asymptotic approximations (two of which are new solutions): (i) injection-driven flow with the injected fluid being more viscous than the displaced fluid ( Γ $\ll$ 1 and M < 1) where we identify a self-similar solution that indicates a parabolic interface shape; (ii) injection-driven flow with injected and displaced fluids of equal viscosity ( Γ $\ll$ 1 and M = 1), where we find a self-similar solution that predicts a distinct parabolic interface shape; (iii) injection-driven flow with a less viscous injected fluid ( Γ $\ll$ 1 and M > 1) for which there is a rarefaction wave solution, assuming that the Saffman-Taylor instability does not occur at the reservoir scale; and (iv) buoyancy-driven flow ( Γ $\gg$ 1) for which there is a well-known self-similar solution corresponding to gravity currents in an unconfined porous medium [S. Lyle et al. “Axisymmetric gravity currents in a porous medium,” J. Fluid Mech. 543, 293–302 (2005)]. The various axisymmetric flows are summarized in a Γ - M regime diagram with five distinct dynamic behaviors including the four asymptotic regimes and an intermediate regime. The implications of the regime diagram are discussed using practical engineering projects of geological CO 2 sequestration, enhanced oil recovery, and underground waste disposal.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Self-similarity and scaling transitions during rupture of thin free films of Newtonian fluids

Rupture of thin liquid films is crucial in many industrial applications and nature such as foam stability in oil-gas separation units, coating flows, polymer processing, and tear films in the eye. In some of these situations, a liquid film may have two free surfaces (referred to here as a free film or a sheet) as opposed to a film deposited on a solid substrate that has one free surface. The rupture of such a free film or a sheet of a Newtonian fluid is analyzed under the competing influences of inertia, viscous stress, van der Waals pressure, and capillary pressure by solving a system of spatially one-dimensional evolution equations for film thickness and lateral velocity. The dynamics close to the space-time singularity where the film ruptures is asymptotically self-similar and, therefore, the problem is also analyzed by reducing the transient partial differential evolution equations to a corresponding set of ordinary differential equations in similarity space. Here, for sheets with negligible inertia, it is shown that the dominant balance of forces involves solely viscous and van der Waals forces, with capillary force remaining negligible throughout the thinning process in a viscous regime. On the other hand, for a sheet of an inviscid fluid for which the effect of viscosity is negligible, it is shown that the dominant balance of forces is between inertial, capillary, and van der Waals forces as the film evolves towards rupture in an inertial regime. Real fluids, however, have finite viscosity. Hence, for real fluids, it is further shown that the viscous and the inertial regimes are only transitory and can only describe the initial thinning dynamics of highly viscous and slightly viscous sheets, respectively. Moreover, regardless of the fluid’s viscosity, it is shown that for sheets that initially thin in either of these two regimes, their dynamics transition to a late stage or final inertial-viscous regime in which inertial, viscous, and van der Waals forces balance each other while capillary force remains negligible, in accordance with the results of Vaynblat, Lister, and Witelski.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Ultrafast vibrational dynamics of a trigonal planar anionic probe in ionic liquids (ILs): A two-dimensional infrared (2DIR) spectroscopic investigation

A major impediment limiting the widespread application of ionic liquids (ILs) is their high shear viscosity. Incorporation of a tricyanomethanide (TCM - ) anion in ILs leads to low shear viscosity and improvement of several characteristics suitable for large scale applications. However, properties including interactions of TCM - with the local environment and dynamics of TCM - have not been thoroughly investigated. Herein, we have studied the ultrafast dynamics of TCM - in several imidazolium ILs using linear IR and two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy techniques. The spectral diffusion dynamics of the CN stretching modes of TCM - in all ILs exhibit a nonexponential behavior with a short time component of ~2 ps and a long time component spanning ~9 ps to 14 ps. The TCM - vibrational probe reports a significantly faster relaxation of ILs compared to those observed previously using linear vibrational probes, such as thiocyanate and selenocyanate. Our results indicate a rapid relaxation of the local ion-cage structure embedding the vibrational probe in the ILs. The faster relaxation suggests that the lifetime of the local ion-cage structure decreases in the presence of TCM - in the ILs. Linear IR spectroscopic results show that the hydrogen-bonding interaction between TCM - and imidazolium cations in ILs is much weaker. Shorter ion-cage lifetimes together with weaker hydrogen-bonding interactions account for the low shear viscosity of TCM - based ILs compared to commonly used ILs. In addition, this work demonstrates that TCM - can be used as a potential vibrational reporter to study the structure and dynamics of ILs and other molecular systems.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

A constitutive model for sheared dense fiber suspensions

Here we propose a constitutive model to predict the viscosity of fiber suspensions, which undergoes shear thinning, at various volume fractions, aspect ratios, and shear stresses/rates. We calibrate the model using the data from direct numerical simulation and prove the accuracy by predicting experimental measurements from the literature. We use a friction coefficient decreasing with the normal load between the fibers to quantitatively reproduce the experimentally observed shear thinning in fiber suspensions. In this model, the effective normal contact force, which is directly proportional to the bulk shear stress, determines the effective friction coefficient. A rise in the shear stress reduces the effective friction coefficient in the suspension. As a result, the jamming volume fraction increases with the shear stress, resulting in a shear thinning in the suspension viscosity. Moreover, we extend the model to quantify the effects of fiber volume fraction and aspect ratio in the suspension. We calibrate this model using the data from numerical simulations for the rate-controlled shear flow. Once calibrated, we show that the model can be used to predict the relative viscosity for different volume fractions, shear stresses, and aspect ratios. The model predictions are in excellent agreement with the available experimental measurements from the literature. The findings of this study can potentially be used to tune the fiber size and volume fraction for designing the suspension rheology in various applications.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Weibel-like instability in magnetohydrodynamics

In magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), a density perturbation perpendicular to an electron temperature gradient generates a magnetic field around itself that acts to increase the perturbation, which can lead to instability. An MHD dispersion relation is obtained for perturbations perpendicular to a fixed electron temperature gradient with an initial in-plane magnetic field, including resistivity, viscosity, and the electrothermal coefficient. Instability occurs for sufficiently small electron temperature-gradient scale lengths determined by the ion collisionless skin depth. Both viscosity and resistivity are required to prevent growth at arbitrarily small spatial scales and to give a physical result for the fastest growing mode. The perpendicular electrothermal coefficient is only significant for a narrow range of low electron Hall parameters, causing a modest reduction in magnetic field growth and modifying the criteria for instability in the presence of viscosity. If the definition of the Weibel instabilityis extended to include all instabilities due to anisotropy in the electron velocity distribution, then this is a Weibel-like instability because an electron temperature gradient implies an anisotropic electron velocity distribution. Here, the implications for the formation of filaments in laser-produced plasmas and for the verification of MHD codes are considered.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of bubble collapse in water: Effects of system size, water model, and nitrogen

Molecular dynamics simulations in the microcanonical ensemble are performed to study the collapse of a bubble in liquid water using the single-site mW and the four-site TIP4P/2005 water models. To study system size effects, simulations for pure water systems are performed using periodically replicated simulation boxes with linear dimensions, L, ranging from 32 to 512 nm with the largest systems containing 8.7 × 10 6 and 4.5 × 10 9 molecules for the TIP4P/2005 and mW water models, respectively. The computationally more efficient mW water model allows us to reach converging behavior when the bubble dynamics results are plotted in reduced units, and the limiting behavior can be obtained through linear extrapolation in L –1 . Qualitative differences are observed between simulations with the mW and TIP4P/2005 water models, but they can be explained by the models’ differences in predicted viscosity and surface tension. Although bubble collapse occurs on time scales of only hundreds of picoseconds, the system sizes used here are sufficiently large to obtain bubble dynamics consistent with the Rayleigh–Plesset equation when using the models’ thermophysical properties as input. For the conditions explored here, extreme heating of the interfacial water molecules near the time of collapse is observed for the larger mW water systems (but the model underpredicts the viscosity), whereas heating is less pronounced for the TIP4P/2005 water systems because its larger viscosity contribution slows the collapse dynamics. The presence of nitrogen within the bubble only starts to affect bubble dynamics near the very end of the initial collapse, leading to an incomplete collapse and strong rebound for the mW water model. Although nitrogen is non-condensable at 300 K, it becomes highly compressed and reaches a liquid-like density near the collapse point. We find that the dissolution of nitrogen is much slower than the movement of the collapsing water front, and the re-expansion of the dense nitrogen droplet gives rise to bubble rebound. The incompatibility of the collapse and dissolution time scales should be considered for continuum-scale modeling of bubble dynamics. Finally, we also confirm that the diffusion coefficient for dissolved nitrogen is insensitive to pressure as the liquid transitions from a compressed to a stretched state.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

VISCOUS EVOLUTION AND PHOTOEVAPORATION OF CIRCUMSTELLAR DISKS DUE TO EXTERNAL FAR ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION FIELDS

This paper explores the effects of FUV radiation fields from external stars on circumstellar disk evolution. Disks residing in young clusters can be exposed to extreme levels of FUV flux from nearby OB stars, and observations show that disks in such environments are being actively photoevaporated. Typical FUV flux levels can be factors of {approx}10{sup 2}-10{sup 4} higher than the interstellar value. These fields are effective in driving mass loss from circumstellar disks because they act at large radial distance from the host star, i.e., where most of the disk mass is located, and where the gravitational potential well is shallow. We combine viscous evolution (an {alpha}-disk model) with an existing FUV photoevaporation model to derive constraints on disk lifetimes, and to determine disk properties as functions of time, including mass-loss rates, disk masses, and radii. We also consider the effects of X-ray photoevaporation from the host star using an existing model, and show that for disks around solar-mass stars, externally generated FUV fields are often the dominant mechanism in depleting disk material. For sufficiently large viscosities, FUV fields can efficiently photoevaporate disks over the entire range of parameter space. Disks with viscosity parameter {alpha} = 10{sup -3} are effectively dispersed within 1-3 Myr; for higher viscosities ({alpha} = 10{sup -2}) disks are dispersed within {approx}0.25-0.5 Myr. Furthermore, disk radii are truncated to less than {approx}100 AU, which can possibly affect the formation of planets. Our model predictions are consistent with the range of observed masses and radii of proplyds in the Orion Nebula Cluster.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Late-time post-merger modeling of a compact binary: effects of relativity, r-process heating, and treatment of transport

Detectable electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational waves from compact binary mergers can be produced by outflows from the black hole-accretion disk remnant during the first 10 s after the merger. Two-dimensional axisymmetric simulations with effective viscosity remain an efficient and informative way to model this late-time post-merger evolution. In addition to the inherent approximations of axisymmetry and modeling turbulent angular momentum transport by a viscosity, previous simulations often make other simplifications related to the treatment of the equation of state and turbulent transport effects. In this paper, we test the effect of these modeling choices. By evolving with the same viscosity the exact post-merger initial configuration previously evolved in Newtonian viscous hydrodynamics, we find that the Newtonian treatment provides a good estimate of the disk ejecta mass but underestimates the outflow velocity. We find that the inclusion of heavy nuclei causes a notable increase in ejecta mass. An approximate inclusion of r-process effects has a comparatively smaller effect, except for its designed effect on the composition. Diffusion of composition and entropy, modeling turbulent transport effects, has the overall effect of reducing ejecta mass and giving it a speed with lower average and more tightly-peaked distribution. Also, we find significant acceleration of outflow even at distances beyond 10 000 km, so that thermal wind velocities only asymptote beyond this radius and at higher values than often reported.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Viscous magnetoresistance of correlated electron liquids

We develop a theory of magnetoresistance of two-dimensional electron systems in a smooth disorder potential in the hydrodynamic regime. Our theory applies to two-dimensional semiconductor structures with strongly correlated carriers when the mean free path due to electron-electron collisions is sufficiently short. The dominant contribution to magnetoresistance arises from the modification of the flow pattern by the Lorentz force, rather than the magnetic field dependence of the kinetic coefficients of the electron liquid. The resulting magnetoresistance is positive and quadratic at weak fields. Although the resistivity is governed by both the viscosity and thermal conductivity of the electron fluid, the magnetoresistance is controlled by the viscosity only. This enables the extraction of viscosity of the electron liquid from magnetotransport measurements.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Production of photons in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

In this work it is shown that the use of a hydrodynamical model of heavy-ion collisions which incorporates recent developments, together with updated photon emission rates, greatly improves agreement with both ALICE and PHENIX measurements of direct photons, supporting the idea that thermal photons are the dominant source of direct photon momentum anisotropy. The event-by-event hydrodynamical model uses the impact parameter dependent Glasma model (IP-Glasma) initial states and includes, for the first time, both shear and bulk viscosities, along with second-order couplings between the two viscosities. Furthermore, the effect of both shear and bulk viscosities on the photon rates is studied, and those transport coefficients are shown to have measurable consequences on the photon momentum anisotropy.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

General relativistic simulations of collapsing binary neutron star mergers with Monte Carlo neutrino transport

Recent gravitational wave observations of neutron-star-neutron-star and neutron-star-black-hole binaries appear to indicate that massive neutron stars may not be too uncommon in merging systems. These discoveries have led to an increased interest in the simulation of merging compact binaries involving massive stars. In this paper, we present a first set of evolution of massive neutron star binaries using Monte Carlo radiation transport for the evolution of neutrinos. Here, we study a range of systems, from nearly symmetric binaries that collapse to a black hole before forming a disk or ejecting material, to more asymmetric binaries in which tidal disruption of the lower mass star leads to the production of more interesting postmerger remnants. For the latter type of systems, we additionally study the impact of viscosity on the properties of the outflows, and compare our results to two recent simulations of identical binaries performed with the whiskyTHC code. We find agreement on the black hole properties, disk mass, and mass and velocity of the outflows within expected numerical uncertainties, and some minor but noticeable differences in the evolution of the electron fraction when using a subgrid viscosity model, with viscosity playing a more minor role in our simulations. The method used to account for r-process heating in the determination of the outflow properties appears to have a larger impact on our result than those differences between numerical codes. We also use the simulation with the most ejected material to verify that our newly implemented Lagrangian tracers provide a reasonable sampling of the matter outflows as they leave the computational grid. We note that, given the lack of production of hot outflows in these mergers, the main role of neutrinos in these systems is to set the composition of the postmerger remnant. One of the main potential uses of our simulations is, thus, as improved initial conditions for longer evolutions of such remnants.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Time-reversal symmetry breaking in two-dimensional nonequilibrium viscous fluids

In this work, we study the rheological signatures of departure from equilibrium in two-dimensional viscous fluids with and without internal spin. Under the assumption of isotropy, we provide the most general linear constitutive relations for stress and couple stress in terms of the velocity and spin fields. Invoking Onsager's regression hypothesis for fluctuations about steady states, we derive the Green-Kubo formulas relating the transport coefficients to time-correlation functions of the fluctuating stress. In doing so, we show that one of the nonequilibrium transport coefficients, the odd viscosity, requires time-reversal symmetry breaking in the case of systems without internal spin. However, the Green-Kubo relations for systems with internal spin also show that there is a possibility for nonvanishing odd viscosity even when time-reversal symmetry is preserved. Furthermore, we find that breakdown of equipartition in nonequilibrium steady states results in the decoupling of the two rotational viscosities relating the vorticity and the internal spin.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Unifying disparate rate-dependent rheological regimes in non-Brownian suspensions

A typical dense non-Brownian particulate suspension exhibits shear thinning (decreasing viscosity) at low shear rate/stress followed by a Newtonian plateau (constant viscosity) at intermediate shear rate/stress values which transitions to shear thickening (increasing viscosity) beyond a critical shear rate/stress value and finally, undergoes a second shear thinning transition at extremely high shear rate/stress values. In this study, we unify and quantitatively reproduce all the disparate rate dependent regimes and the corresponding transitions for a dense non-Brownian suspension with increasing shear rate/stress. Here, we employ discrete particle dynamics simulations based on the proposed mechanism to elucidate its accuracy. We find that a competition between inter-particle interactions of hydrodynamic and non-hydrodynamic origins and the switching in the dominant stress scale with increasing the shear rate/stress lead to each of the above transitions. Inclusion of traditional hydrodynamic interactions, attractive/repulsive DLVO (Derjaguin and Landau, Verwey and Overbeek) interactions, the inter-particle contact interactions and a constant friction (or other constraint mechanism) reproduce the initial thinning as well as the shear thickening transition. However, to quantitatively capture the intermediate Newtonian plateau and the second shear thinning, an additional non-hydrodynamic interaction of non-DLVO origin and a decreasing coefficient of friction, respectively, are essential; thus, providing the first explanation for the presence of the intermediate Newtonian plateau along with reproducing the second shear thinning in a single framework. Expressions utilized for various interactions and friction are determined from experimental measurements and hence, result in an excellent quantitative agreement between the simulations and previous experiments.

42 ENGINEERING↗