Modeling the behavior of confined colloidal particles under shear flow

FE Mackay and K Pastor and M Karttunen and C Denniston, SOFT MATTER, 10, 8724-8730 (2014).

DOI: 10.1039/c4sm01812e

We investigate the behavior of colloidal suspensions with different volume fractions confined between parallel walls under a range of steady shears. We model the particles using molecular dynamics (MD) with full hydrodynamic interactions implemented through the use of a lattice- Boltzmann (LB) fluid. A quasi-2d ordering occurs in systems characterized by a coexistence of coupled layers with different densities, order, and granular temperature. We present a phase diagram in terms of shear and volume fraction for each layer, and demonstrate that particle exchange between layers is required for entering the disordered phase.

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