Nonlinear Rheological Properties of Dense Colloidal Dispersions Close to a Glass Transition Under Steady Shear

The nonlinear rheological properties of dense colloidal suspensions under steady shear are discussed within a first principles approach. It starts from the Smoluchowski equation of interacting Brownian particles in a given shear flow, derives generalized Green-Kubo relations, which contain the transients dynamics formally exactly, and closes the equations using mode coupling approximations. Shear thinning of colloidal fluids and dynamical yielding of colloidal glasses arise from competition between a slowing down of structural relaxation because of particle interactions, and enhanced decorrelation of fluctuations caused by the shear advection of density fluctuations. The integration through transients (ITT) approach takes account of the dynamic competition, translational invariance enters the concept of wavevector advection, and the mode coupling approximation enables one to explore quantitatively the shear-induced suppression of particle caging and the resulting speed-up of the structural relaxation. Extended comparisons with shear stress data in the linear response and in the nonlinear regime measured in model thermo-sensitive core-shell latices are discussed. Additionally, the single particle motion under shear observed by confocal microscopy and in computer simulations is reviewed and analysed theoretically.