Study of aggregational characteristics of emulsions on their rheological properties using the lattice Boltzmann approach

Abstract

Predicting the rheological properties of emulsions is one of the most challenging and complicated problems in material and fluid sciences. Substantial complications in prediction of rheology arise due to the deformability and aggregation of emulsions. Thus a better understanding of deformation and aggregation of emulsions can lead to a better understanding of the shear thinning region of emulsions. Though numerous experimental and theoretical studies were performed to obtain rheological correlations of emulsions, their inability to visualize and understand the droplet deformation in the presence of large volume fractions has stagnated our understanding of the shear thinning behavior of emulsions. With the aid of a numerical tool, which can help in visualizing the droplet deformation and correlate it to rheological behavior of emulsions, we have made an attempt to understand the physics behind the shear thinning behavior and also predict its rheological characteristics for emulsions at different volume fractions. In this article, we try to obtain a theoretical understanding of the influence of deformation and de-aggregation of droplets on the emulsion rheology. Simulations performed in this article using a multi-component lattice Boltzmann model are used to quantify (a) relative viscosity of emulsions with change in shear rate, (b) relative viscosity of emulsions with change in time, (c) effect of deformation of droplets on the shear thinning region in emulsions, and (d) relative viscosity of emulsions with change in volume fraction.