Microstructure and viscosity of aggregating colloids under strong shearing force

Disaggregation under strong shearing force is simulated for an aggregating colloid based on a sticky particle model which can describe the disaggregating and aggregating kinetics, the deformation, and the rupture of clusters with a minimum number of parameters. For a 2-dimensional system, the viscosity and coordination number of the model colloid are calculated at each time step, and the changes of microstructure with shear flow are observed directly by displaying the configuration of particles onto a monitor. The viscosity depends on both area fraction and shear rate, but coordination number depends only on shear rate. Furthermore, the viscosity and coordination number at steady state are independent of the initial state of particles, which indicates that the disaggregation and aggregation are mutually reversible. (C) 1999 Academic Press.