Dynamics and memory of boundary stresses in discontinuous shear thickening suspensions during oscillatory shear

Abstract

We report direct measurements of spatially resolved surface stresses of a dense suspension during large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS) in the discontinuous shear thickening regime using boundary stress microscopy. Consistent with previous studies, bulk rheology shows a dramatic increase in the complex viscosity above a frequency-dependent critical strain. We find that the viscosity increase is coincident with that appearance of large heterogeneous boundary stresses, indicative of the formation of transient solid-like phases (SLPs) on spatial scales large compared to the particle size. The critical strain for the appearance of SLPs is largely determined by the peak oscillatory stress, which depends on the peak shear rate and the frequency-dependent suspension viscosity. The SLPs dissipate and reform on each cycle, with a spatial pattern that is highly variable at low frequencies but remarkably persistent at the highest frequency measured (ω = 10 rad s⁻¹).