Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 30, 2026

Challenges in Rheological Characterization of Highly Concentrated Suspensions — A Case Study for Screen-printing Silver Pastes
Published on: April 10, 2017
Constant Stress and Pressure Rheology of Colloidal Suspensions
1Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
Abstract:
We study the constant stress and pressure rheology of dense hard-sphere colloidal suspensions using Brownian dynamics simulation. Expressing the flow behavior in terms of the friction coefficient-the ratio of shear to normal stress-reveals a shear arrest point from the collapse of the rheological data in the non-Brownian limit. The flow curves agree quantitatively (when scaled) with the experiments of Boyer et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 188301 (2011)]. Near suspension arrest, both the shear and the incremental normal viscosities display a universal power law divergence. This work shows the important role of jamming on the arrest of colloidal suspensions and illustrates the care needed when conducting and analyzing experiments and simulations near the flow-arrest transition.
Related Concept Videos
Colloids and Suspensions
Shearing Strain
Stress-Strain Diagram - Ductile Materials
Relation between Poisson's ratio, Modulus of Elasticity and Modulus of Rigidity
Stress-Strain Diagram
Problem Solving on Stress and Strain

