Experimental signature of the pair trajectories of rough spheres in the shear-induced microstructure in noncolloidal suspensions

Phys Rev Lett. 2011 Nov 11;107(20):208302. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.208302. Epub 2011 Nov 8.

Abstract

The shear-induced microstructure in a semidilute noncolloidal suspension is studied. A high-resolution pair distribution function in the plane of shear is experimentally determined. It is shown to be anisotropic, with a depleted direction close to the velocity axis in the recession quadrant. The influence of roughness on the interaction between particles is quantitatively evidenced. The experimental results compare well with a model from particle pair trajectories.