Contact-network organization and motion statistics in shear-thickening suspensions
Abstract
We use lubricated-flow discrete-element-method (LF--DEM) simulations to examine how contact-network organization shapes particle motion in dense shear-thickening suspensions. The primary system studied is a two-dimensional bidisperse monolayer where rigid clusters are identified by the (3,3) pebble game; three-dimensional simulations are shown to have qualitatively similar rotational velocity statistics. Across the stress--solid-fraction state diagram, frictional contact number, k≥ 3 percolation, and rigid-cluster fluctuations all strengthen in the same region where translational velocity correlations grow, \Revision{consistent with coherent translation within rigid clusters and a state-dependent contrast in relative motion between particles inside and outside them}. Rotational motion provides a complementary view: non-affine angular-velocity distributions broaden, \Revision{near-contact non-affine rotational fluctuations become increasingly anti-correlated, and particles inside and outside rigid clusters carry distinct statistics}. Connectivity, rigidity, and velocity correlations are related but distinct signatures of the constrained collective motion that accompanies shear thickening and the approach to shear jamming.
Versions
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BibTeX
@misc{orsi2026contactnetwork,
title = {{Contact-network organization and motion statistics in shear-thickening suspensions}},
author = {Michel Orsi and Rahul Pandare and Brolin Adu-Poku and Bulbul Chakraborty and Jeffrey F. Morris},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2606.04605},
eprint = {2606.04605},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.04605},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Contact-network organization and motion statistics in shear-thickening suspensions
AU - Michel Orsi
AU - Rahul Pandare
AU - Brolin Adu-Poku
AU - Bulbul Chakraborty
AU - Jeffrey F. Morris
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/25
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2606.04605
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.04605
AB - We use lubricated-flow discrete-element-method (LF--DEM) simulations to examine how contact-network organization shapes particle motion in dense shear-thickening suspensions. The primary system studied is a two-dimensional bidisperse monolayer where rigid clusters are identified by the (3,3) pebble game; three-dimensional simulations are shown to have qualitatively similar rotational velocity statistics. Across the stress--solid-fraction state diagram, frictional contact number, k≥ 3 percolation, and rigid-cluster fluctuations all strengthen in the same region where translational velocity correlations grow, \Revision{consistent with coherent translation within rigid clusters and a state-dependent contrast in relative motion between particles inside and outside them}. Rotational motion provides a complementary view: non-affine angular-velocity distributions broaden, \Revision{near-contact non-affine rotational fluctuations become increasingly anti-correlated, and particles inside and outside rigid clusters carry distinct statistics}. Connectivity, rigidity, and velocity correlations are related but distinct signatures of the constrained collective motion that accompanies shear thickening and the approach to shear jamming.
ER -