2012-04-18
15:45 at HCI G 7

Mode coupling theory of the history dependent deformation of colloidal glass

Matthias Fuchs

Universität Konstanz

I will present and discuss recent results on the history dependence of rheological experiments in dense colloidal dispersions obtained from a first principles approach to the non-linear rheology. Assuming homogeneous flow and neglecting hydrodynamic interactions, a theoretical description of the stresses, micro-structure, and particle motion close to a colloidal glass transition are developed. Results for large amplitude oscillatory shearing, step-strains, and other time-dependent transient deformation protocols provide a unifying description of the dispersion properties under general strains. Shear-thinning, plastic deformation and an-elastic behavior are observed. Adding Brownian dynamics simulations, the shear-induced particle motion provides information on the microscopic transport mechanisms in the dense dispersions close to the colloidal glass transition.