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Brittle solid collapse to simple liquid for a waxy suspension.

Diogo E V Andrade1, Philippe Coussot1

  • 1Université Paris-Est, Laboratoire Navier (UMR 8205), CNRS, Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, IFSTTAR, 77455 Marne-la-Vallée, France. philippe.coussot@ifsttar.fr.

Soft Matter
|October 9, 2019
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Wax suspensions act as soft, brittle solids due to a network of bonds. High stress or fatigue causes these materials to abruptly collapse into a fluid, offering insights into material brittleness and natural disasters.

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Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Rheology
  • Soft Matter Physics

Background:

  • Many materials exhibit complex behaviors, transitioning between solid-like and liquid-like states.
  • Understanding the microstructural origins of material failure is crucial for predicting macroscopic properties.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the collapse behavior of wax suspensions under stress.
  • To elucidate the role of interparticle bonds and microstructure in material transitions.
  • To explore the potential of these suspensions as models for natural catastrophic events.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental rheology to apply stress and observe material response.
  • Microstructural analysis to observe changes in the network structure.
  • Varying stress conditions (high stress/short time, low stress/fatigue) and concentration.

Main Results:

  • Wax suspensions behave as soft, brittle solids due to a percolating network of weak interparticle bonds.
  • Abrupt and irreversible collapse into a low-viscosity fluid occurs under high stress or fatigue.
  • Collapse is concentration-dependent and linked to microstructural evolution.

Conclusions:

  • The study reveals the physical origin of brittleness and plasticity in solid/pasty materials.
  • Wax suspensions serve as effective model systems for simulating natural phenomena like landslides and avalanches.
  • The findings offer new perspectives on material failure and microstructure evolution.