title: Coupled dynamics of flow, microstructure, and conductivity in sheared suspensions.
abstract: We propose a model for the evolution of the conductivity tensor for a flowing suspension of electrically conductive particles. We use discrete particle numerical simulations together with a continuum physical framework to construct an evolution law for the suspension microstructure during flow. This model is then coupled with a relationship between the microstructure and the electrical conductivity tensor. Certain parameters of the joint model are fit experimentally using rheo-electrical conductivity measurements of carbon black suspensions under flow over a range of shear rates. The model is applied to the case of steady shearing as well as time-varying conductivity of unsteady flow experiments. We find that the model prediction agrees closely with the measured experimental data in all cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA. kkamrin@mit.edu.
authors.forename: Tyler
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Olsen
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Helal
authors.forename: Gareth H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: McKinley
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kamrin