Constitutive model for time-dependent flows of shear-thickening suspensions

Jurriaan J. J. Gillissen, Chris Ness, Joseph D. Peterson, Helen J. Wilson, Michael E. Cates

Published 2019-11-01Version 1

We develop a tensorial constitutive model for dense, shear-thickening particle suspensions subjected to time-dependent flow. Our model combines a recently proposed evolution equation for the suspension microstructure in rate-independent materials with ideas developed previously to explain the steady flow of shear-thickening ones, whereby friction proliferates among compressive contacts at large particle stresses. We apply our model to shear reversal, and find good qualitative agreement with particle-level, discrete-element simulations whose results we also present.