Jamming transition in magnetorheological suspensions made of iron and calcium carbonate particles

The jamming transition, also known as discontinuous shear thickening (DST), is observed in very concentrated suspensions of solid particles, usually non-Brownian, with a size larger than one micron. This study focuses on the use of a magnetic field to trigger this transition which is characterized by a strong increase of viscosity. We show that this transition is very dependent on the coverage of the particle surface by a layer of adsorbed polymers. We present some results in terms of shear stress versus shear rate or shear strain for a suspension made of a mixture of iron and calcium carbonate particles.
Keywords: Suspension, jamming, superplasticizer, viscosity jump