Transverse Alignment of Fibers in a Periodically Sheared Suspension: An Absorbing Phase Transition with a Slowly Varying Control Parameter

Alexandre Franceschini (1) , Emmanouela Filippidi (1) , Elisabeth Guazzelli (2) , David J Pine (1)

1 CSMR - Center for Soft Matter Research [New-York]
2 IUSTI - Institut universitaire des systèmes thermiques industriels

Shearing solutions of fibers or polymers tends to align fiber or polymers in the flow direction. Here, non-Brownian rods subjected to oscillatory shear align perpendicular to the flow while the system undergoes a nonequilibrium absorbing phase transition. The slow alignment of the fibers can drive the system through the critical point and thus promote the transition to an absorbing state. This picture is confirmed by a universal scaling relation that collapses the data with critical exponents that are consistent with conserved directed percolation.

Mots clés: numbers: 6470km; 0565+b; 0570Ln; 8310Pp

Domaines: Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]

Alexandre Franceschini, Emmanouela Filippidi, Elisabeth Guazzelli, David J Pine. Transverse Alignment of Fibers in a Periodically Sheared Suspension: An Absorbing Phase Transition with a Slowly Varying Control Parameter. Physical Review Letters, 2011, 107, ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.250603⟩. ⟨hal-01432235⟩