MSC Seminar. 30/09/2024. Henri Lhuissier (IUSTI Lab, CNRS & Aix-Marseille Univ.): “How do shear-thickening suspensions actually flow?”

Concentrated suspensions of small (∼ 5 – 50 μm) non-aggregating particles, such as cornstarch in water, behave oddly. They flow, under a mild shear stress, but ’shear- thicken’ or jam, at higher stress, when the short-range repulsion between particles is overcome. I will discuss fascinating consequences of this singular rheology. In particular, why non-inertial surface waves grow down inclines, why the spreading over an horizontal ground does not slow down, how shock waves set the drag on a moving object, and how a shear-thickening suspension can flow through a pipe without clogging.