Reaching stable shear jammed states in dense particulate suspensions with propagating fronts

Dense particulate suspensions can jam under shear when the applied stress surpasses a certain threshold. However, using steady-state rheology to access this jammed state is challenging due to poorly controlled local stress inside the material. To overcome this obstacle, we introduce a quasi-one-dimensional system modeled after the geometry of the Stokes first problem. The moving boundary creates a propagating shear front, establishing well-controlled, stable local stress that sweeps across the material [1]. Such transient flow enables the system to reach the otherwise elusive steady states, namely, the shear jammed states. This approach can be applied to control other systems governed by analogous mathematical frameworks.

[1] E. Han, N.M. James, and H.M. Jaeger. Phys. Rev. Lett. 123(24):248002, 2019.