The Mechanics of Complex Fluids; Drop Breakup and Shear Induced Diffusion Effects

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This project supports research on two topics that relate to the effects of processing flows on the properties of complex fluids. The first concerns the mechanisms and conditions for breakup of viscous or viscoelastic drops in shear flows, and thus addresses one of the basic mechanisms by which one fluid is dispersed in another during mixing or blending processes. The second examines the velocity and concentration distributions that occur due to shear-induces particle migration effects in concentrated suspensions. In both cases, the proposed research will be primarily experimental. The technological significance of the investigation is related primarily to the development of a basis for predicting the changes that occur in suspension-like complex fluids during processing, and thus how processing flows may be used to modify or control bulk properties of materials that are produced from such fluids.//