Nonlinear Mechanics of Colloidal Gels: Creep, Fatigue, and Shear-Induced Yielding

Necking and failure of a particulate gel strand: signatures of yielding on different length scales

“…This leads to gels with thick strands, in which significant plastic deformation occurs before breakage. 59 This is different from dilute gels with thin strands, where there can be visco-elastic behaviour in the overall gel, but individual strands have a sudden brittle failure. 23…”

Stress-independent delay time in yielding of dilute colloidal gels

“…Colloidal gels form unique structures via short-range interparticle attractive interactions, resulting in infinite elastic networks. [1][2][3][4][5] Remarkably, they can be formed at extremely low particle concentrations. These gels exhibit ''yield fluid'' behavior, where they flow once the applied stress (or strain) surpasses a specific threshold.…”

“…These gels exhibit ''yield fluid'' behavior, where they flow once the applied stress (or strain) surpasses a specific threshold. [1][2][3][4] These rheological properties of colloidal gels hold great potential for various industries, including coating, painting, cosmetics and food. 6,7 Colloidal gels are in an out of thermodynamic equilibrium state and are commonly recognized as kinetically arrested states.…”

“…[15][16][17]21,22 Understanding the nonlinear mechanical properties of colloidal gels is challenging yet intriguing, as they depend on various factors such as particle concentration, interaction potential, and gelation mechanisms. A recent classification proposed by Gibaud et al 4 aims to comprehensively categorize colloidal gels based on the reversibility of yielding. Type (I) comprises gels that exhibit reversible yielding, where the gel network recovers upon stress or strain removal.…”

“…These gels exhibit “yield fluid” behavior, where they flow once the applied stress (or strain) surpasses a specific threshold. 1–4 These rheological properties of colloidal gels hold great potential for various industries, including coating, painting, cosmetics and food. 6,7…”