Self-organized criticality in sheared suspensions

Recent studies reveal that suspensions of neutrally buoyant non-brownian particles driven by slow periodic shear can undergo a dynamical phase transition between a fluctuating irreversible steady state and an absorbing reversible state. Using a computer model, we show that such systems exhibit self-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysical review letters Vol. 103; no. 24; p. 248301
Main Authors Corté, L, Gerbode, S J, Man, W, Pine, D J
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 11.12.2009
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Summary:Recent studies reveal that suspensions of neutrally buoyant non-brownian particles driven by slow periodic shear can undergo a dynamical phase transition between a fluctuating irreversible steady state and an absorbing reversible state. Using a computer model, we show that such systems exhibit self-organized criticality when a finite particle sedimentation velocity v(s) is introduced. Under periodic shear, these systems evolve, without external intervention, towards the shear-dependent critical concentration phi(c) as v(s) is reduced. This state is characterized by power-law distributions in the lifetime and size of fluctuating clusters. Experiments exhibit similar behavior and, as v(s) is reduced, yield steady-state values of phi that tend towards the phi(c) corresponding to the applied shear.
ISSN:1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.103.248301