Education:
- The University of Akron, OH, USA ( M.S. in Polymer Engineering 2022-present )
- Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India ( B.Tech. in Polymer Engineering and Technology 2018-2022)
Research Statement:
Soft particle glasses (SPG), which are jammed beyond the random close-packing fraction of equivalent hard spheres, show rich rheology under shear flow. The softness of particles allows them to compress to volume fractions larger than the random close-packing of the equivalent hard-spheres and form flat facets at the contact between particles. In this regime, the thermal energy contribution becomes minor, and the contact forces are the dominant source of dynamics and govern the morphology and macroscopic rheology. These fluids demonstrate yield stress behavior; they flow according to the Herschel-Bulkley (HB) relationship. We will use our particle dynamics numerical method to disentangle the interrelation between the softness, size distribution, volume fraction of the particles, and strength of the flow on the microscopic dynamics and rheology of SPGs using computational techniques. A direct relationship between the microscopic dynamics and macroscopic properties of these suspensions will be established using an efficient computational method in shear flow. The shear flow curves and trajectories of the suspensions will be analyzed to identify domains with heterogenous motion and link the length scale of these domains with the stress-strain behavior at low and high shear rates. Furthermore, the simulations will provide a direct relationship between the stress distribution in the suspensions and their nonaffine dynamics.