Gravitational compression of colloidal gels.
We study the compression of depletion gels under the influence of a gravitational stress by monitoring the time evolution of the gel interface and the local volume fraction, φ, inside the gel. We find φ is not constant throughout the gel. Instead, there is a volume fraction gradient that develops and grows along the gel height as the compression process proceeds. Our results are correctly described by a non-linear poroelastic model that explicitly incorporates the φ-dependence of the gravitational, elastic and viscous stresses acting on the gel.
Liétor-Santos
J J
JJ
Department of Physics and HSEAS, Harvard University, Pierce Hall, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Kim
C
C
Lu
P J
PJ
Fernández-Nieves
A
A
Weitz
D A
DA