Georgetown Physicists Study Fundamental Structure of Flowing Cornstarch-Water Mixture

Oobleck, dyed yellow/green in the experiment, being agitated by a metal implement.

Results from the research groups of Profs Daniel Blair and Jeffrey Urbach, presented in a paper appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, reveal the intricate structures associated with the shear thickening transition in cornstarch suspensions, including the first measurements of relative flow between the cornstarch particles and the suspending fluid. Their results show that nonaffine flow, concentration fluctuations, and fluid migration are integral to the generation of high stresses in shear thickening fluids.

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