Localized transient jamming in discontinuous shear thickening

We report direct measurements of spatially resolved surface stresses over the entire surface of a dense suspension during discontinuous shear thickening (DST) using boundary stress microscopy (BSM) in a parallel-plate rheometer. We find that large fluctuations in the bulk rheological response at the onset of DST are the result of localized transitions to a state with very high stress, consistent with a fully jammed solid that makes direct contact with the shearing boundaries. This jammed solidlike phase (SLP) is rapidly fractured, producing two separate SLPs that propagate in opposite directions. By comparing the speed of propagation of the SLPs with the motion of the confining plates, we deduce that one remains in contact with the bottom boundary and the other remains in contact with the top. These regions grow, bifurcate, and eventually interact and decay in a complex manner that depends on the measurement conditions (constant shear rate vs constant stress). In a constant applied stress mode, BSM directly reveals dramatic stress fluctuations that are completely missed in the standard bulk rheology.