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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: GR/N11735/01
Title: SHEAR BANDING IN COMPLEX FLUIDS
Principal Investigator: Olmsted, Professor PD
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: Physics and Astronomy
Organisation: University of Leeds
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 01 November 2000 Ends: 31 October 2003 Value (£): 116,369
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Complex fluids & soft solids
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Manufacturing No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
Complex fluids have a variety of interesting phases and dynamical properties, and have been studied by physicists, chemists, and biologists for a century. They are ubiquitous in industrial processes and products such a plastics, petrochemicals, food, and personal care products; and constitute much of biological matter. Understanding flow properties of heterogeneous materials can provide invaluable feedback to optimize processing conditions. In this proposal we will study several aspects of complex fluids under driven flow conditions, in which the fluid apparently phase separates, or shear bands . We will use the diffusive Johnson-Segalman model to study the kinetics of shear band formation, analogous to equilibrium phase transition kinetics, and investigate the relationship between instability and shear banding in several models. We will relate rheological measurements to unknown diffusive terms in the stress dynamics, and investigate concentration effects on banding in complex geometries and kinetics. We will also seek to build a paradigm for a non-smooth banding system (between states of different symmetries), and explore the possible universalities between different classes of models. Finally, we will study the detailed kinetics of banding in the vorticity (common strain rate) direction.
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Organisation Website: http://www.leeds.ac.uk