Unconventional rheological properties in systems of deformable particles

• Main Authors: Pasupalak, Anshuman, Samidurai, Shawn Khuhan, Li, Yan-Wei, Zheng, Yuanjian, Ni, Ran, Ciamarra, Massimo Pica
• Other Authors: School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Science::Physics; Deformable Particles; Rheological Properties
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/159654
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

We demonstrate the existence of unconventional rheological and memory properties in systems of softdeformable particles whose energy depends on their shape, via numerical simulations. At large strains, these systems experience an unconventional shear weakening transition characterized by an increase in the mechanical energy and a drastic drop in shear stress, which stems from the emergence of shortranged tetratic order. In these weakened states, the contact network evolves reversibly under strain reversal, keeping memory of its initial state, while the microscopic dynamics is irreversible.