Paper Number
GG33 

Session
Rheology of Gels, Glasses and Jammed Systems

Title
Nonaffinity-induced critical slowing down in fibrous networks and dense suspensions

Presentation Date and Time
October 11, 2022 (Tuesday) 5:05

Track / Room
Track 3 / Sheraton 5

Authors (Click on name to view author profile)

  1. Shivers, Jordan L. (Rice University, Center for Theoretical Biological Physics)
  2. Sharma, Abhinav (Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research Dresden, Institute Theory of Polymers)
  3. MacKintosh, Fred C. (Rice University, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering)

Author and Affiliation Lines (in printed abstract book)
Jordan L. Shivers1, Abhinav Sharma2 and Fred C. MacKintosh3
1Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, Rice University, Houston, TX 77004; 2Institute Theory of Polymers, Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research Dresden, Dresden, Germany; 3Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77004

Speaker / Presenter 
Shivers, Jordan L.

Keywords
gels; jammed systems; suspensions

Text of Abstract
Fluid-immersed networks and dense suspensions typically reside near a boundary between soft (or fluid-like) and rigid (or solid-like) mechanical regimes. This boundary can be crossed either by varying the concentration or by deformation. Near the onset or loss of rigidity, dissipation limiting nonaffine rearrangements dominate the macroscopic viscoelastic response, giving rise to diverging relaxation times and power-law rheology. We derive a simple relationship between nonaffinity and excess viscosity in fluid-immersed amorphous materials. We then demonstrate this relationship and its rheological consequences in simulations of stress relaxation in strained filament networks and dense suspensions.