Anisotropic ordering in sheared binary fluids with viscous asymmetry: experiment and computer simulation.
Optical measurements of the structure and morphology of phase-separating polymer blend under simple shear flow have been performed and the results are compared with computer simulations of sheared phase-separating binary mixtures with viscous asymmetry in the fluid components. Information about the structure is obtained from the two-point composition correlation function. Both experiment and simulation suggest subtle differences in the shear response depending on whether the more viscous phase is dispersed or continuous. Measurements of the string width along the neutral direction suggest power-law decay in the shear rate with an exponent of 1/3 when the more viscous phase is dispersed. The simulations suggest that the mean string width, measured along the velocity-gradient direction in the two-dimensional model calculation, exhibits power-law decay in the shear rate with an exponent of 1/3 independent of which phase is dispersed.
Jeon
H S
HS
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA.
Shou
Z
Z
Chakrabarti
A
A
Hobbie
E K
EK