Abstract:

One of the central theoretical problems in the colloid field is to determine the rheological relation between tile macroscopic properties of colloidal suspensions and the microstructures of the systems. In this work, the authors develop a method of transformation field by which one can calculate the effective viscosity of an incompressible viscous fluid containing colloidal particles (either solid particles or liquid drops) fixed at the points of a periodic lattice. The effective viscosity of a colloidal dispersion of spherical particles is calculated. The predictions of the theory are in good agreement with the Einstein's formula for suspensions and the Taylor's formula for emulsions at low particle concentrations. At higher particle concentrations, the theory reproduces the results of Nunan and Keller. The method is also applicable to tile viscosity of colloidal systems with non-spherical particles.
the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Government under Project Number CUHK 461/95P. G.Q .G.acknowledges the support of t

Key words: Colloidal dispersion, effective viscosity, suspension, emulsion