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Understanding soft glassy rheology and yielding of particle laden interfaces through strain decomposition
K C Bhaskar1, James J Griebler2, Simon Rogers2
1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Texas Tech University, United States.
Hypothesis:
Yielding of soft glassy interfaces can be identified by decomposition of macroscopic strain into recoverable/unrecoverable components that reflect microstructural deformation.
Experiments:
A new technique, interfacial recovery rheology, was used to measure recoverable/unrecoverable strain components of soft glassy interfaces. Microstructural strain was determined via microscopic particle tracking via high-resolution imaging during rheology measurements. Microstructural strain was correlated to macroscopic rheological results as well as mean irreversible and non-affine displacement.
Findings:
Previously characterized by a single or two stage transition, interfacial yielding is found to occur due to growth of unrecoverable strain observed by increasing unrecoverable loss modulus. Interfacial recovery rheology explicitly reflects microstructural deformation and accumulation of irreversible particle rearrangements, indicating it captures the cause of yielding for these interfaces. This method offers a single technique for elucidating the applied strain, yielding, and microstructural deformation relationship for interfacial soft matter.
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