Observation of chaotic dynamics in dilute sheared aqueous solutions of CTAT.
The nonlinear flow behavior of a viscoelastic gel formed due to entangled, cylindrical micelles in aqueous solutions of the surfactant cetyl trimethylammonium tosilate (CTAT) has been studied. On subjecting the system to a step shear rate lying above a certain value, the shear and normal stresses show interesting time dependent behavior. The analysis of the measured time series shows the existence of a finite correlation dimension and a positive Lyapunov exponent, unambiguously implying that the dynamics can be described by that of a dynamical system with a strange attractor whose dimension increases with the increase in shear rate.
Bandyopadhyay
R
R
Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India.
Basappa
G
G
Sood
A K
AK