Rheology of Concentrated Particle Suspensions
Project Description
Controlling the flow of concentrated particle suspensions is crucial in a plethora of applications such as the creation of biomass slurries for renewable fuels, metal pastes in solar cells, thermal interface materials, solid oxide fuel cells, and additive manufacturing/3D printing. These concentrated suspensions are made up of spheres or particles with anisotropic shapes (rods, fibers, platelets) and often operate close to the jamming fraction. Developing models and measurement tools to understand and predict the flow behavior of concentrated particle suspensions is crucial to optimize many industrial processes. This project uses a combination of rheological experiments and computational models to investigate the fundamental flow behavior of concentrated suspensions. The goal is to quantify rheological properties of the suspension including yield stress, normal stresses, and relative viscosity of the concentrated suspension under different conditions.
Start Date
May 2026
Postdoc Qualifications
| The ideal candidate for this position will have a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Chemical Engineering or a related field, and research experience with one or more of the following: rheometry, fluid dynamics. Must demonstrate excellent communication skills in the form of published papers and conference presentations. |
Co-advisors
Arezoo Ardekani
Professor, School of Mechanical Engineering
ardekani@purdue.edu
https://web.ics.purdue.edu/~ardekani/
Kendra Erk
Associate Professor, School of Materials Engineering
erk@purdue.edu
https://soft-material-mechanics.squarespace.com/home
Bibliography
| R.D. Corder, Y.-J. Chen, P. Pibulchinda, J.P. Youngblood, A.M. Ardekani, and K.A. Erk, “Rheology of 3D printable ceramic suspensions: effects of non-adsorbing polymer on discontinuous shear thickening,” Soft Matter, 19, 882-891 (2023) doi: 10.1039/D2SM01396G |