Drop formation in shear-thickening granular suspensions

Zhongcheng Pan (1) , Nicolas Louvet (2, 3) , Yves Hennequin (1) , Hamid Kellay (2) , Daniel Bonn (1)

1 Soft Matter Group, Van der Waals–Zeeman Institute
2 LOMA - Laboratoire Ondes et Matière d'Aquitaine
3 LEMTA - Laboratoire d'Energétique et Mécanique Théorique et Appliquée

We study droplet formation in granular suspensions by systematically varying the volume fractions (ϕ) and particle diameters (d). For suspensions with water as the suspending liquid, we find three different regimes. For dilute suspensions (ϕ ≤ 45%), drop formation follows the predictions for inertial breakup and exhibits identical dynamics to that of pure water. The breakup is strongly asymmetrical in this case. Only for more concentrated suspensions (ϕ > 45%) does the presence of particles change the dynamics and two other regimes, a symmetrical inertial regime and a Bagnoldian regime, are uncovered. We construct and discuss a phase diagram that allows us to understand and predict the breakup behavior in granular suspensions.

Mots clés: Granular systems; Complex fluids and colloidal systems; Surface-tension-driven instability; Drops and bubbles

Domaines: Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]

Zhongcheng Pan, Nicolas Louvet, Yves Hennequin, Hamid Kellay, Daniel Bonn. Drop formation in shear-thickening granular suspensions. Physical Review E : Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, 2015, 92 (5), pp.052203 (1-6). ⟨10.1103/PhysRevE.92.052203⟩. ⟨hal-01256933⟩