Abstract
The local dynamics and the nonlinear rheology of soft colloidal pastes are shown to exhibit a remarkable universal behavior in terms of a unique microscopic time scale. This variable is associated with structural relaxation under the combined action of local frictional forces and elastic driving forces. These results establish a link between the local dynamics of pastes and their nonlinear flow behavior and provide a unified description of paste rheology.
- Received 27 August 2002
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.068303
©2003 American Physical Society