Strain-Rate Frequency Superposition: A Rheological Probe of Structural Relaxation in Soft Materials

Hans M. Wyss, Kunimasa Miyazaki, Johan Mattsson, Zhibing Hu, David R. Reichman, and David A. Weitz

Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 238303 – Published 7 June 2007

Abstract

The rheological properties of soft materials often exhibit surprisingly universal linear and nonlinear features. Here we show that these properties can be unified by considering the effect of the strain-rate amplitude on the structural relaxation of the material. We present a new form of oscillatory rheology, strain-rate frequency superposition (SRFS), where the strain-rate amplitude is fixed as the frequency is varied. We show that SRFS can isolate the response due to structural relaxation, even when it occurs at frequencies too low to be accessible with standard techniques.

Received 18 August 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.238303

Authors & Affiliations

Hans M. Wyss¹, Kunimasa Miyazaki^2,3, Johan Mattsson¹, Zhibing Hu⁴, David R. Reichman², and David A. Weitz¹

¹Department of Physics & HSEAS, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
²Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA
³The Research Institute of Kochi University of Technology, Tosa Yamada, Kochi 782-8502, Japan
⁴Department of Physics, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas 76203, USA

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Issue

Vol. 98, Iss. 23 — 8 June 2007

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