Paper detail

Shear banding in large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOStrain and LAOStress) of polymers and wormlike micelles

We investigate theoretically shear banding in large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS) of polymers and wormlike micelles. In LAOStrain we find banding at low frequencies and sufficiently high strain rate amplitudes in fluids for which the underlying constitutive curve of shear stress as a function of shear rate is non-monotonic. This is the direct analogue of quasi steady state banding seen in slow strain rate sweeps along the flow curve. At higher frequencies and sufficiently high strain amplitudes we report a different but related phenomenon, which we call `elastic' shear banding. This is associated with an overshoot in the elastic (Lissajous-Bowditch) curve of stress as a function of strain. We suggest that this may arise widely even in fluids that have a monotonic underlying constitutive curve, and so do not show steady state banding under a steadily applied shear flow. In LAOStress we report banding in fluids that shear thin strongly enough to have either a negatively, or weakly positively, sloping region in the underlying constitutive curve, noting again that fluids in the latter category do not display steady state banding in a steadily applied flow. This banding is triggered in each half cycle as the stress magnitude transits the region of weak slope in an upward direction, such that the fluid effectively yields. Our numerics are performed in the Rolie-poly model of polymeric fluids, but we also provide arguments suggesting that our results should apply more widely. Besides banding in the shear rate profile, which can be measured by velocimetry, we also predict banding in the shear and normal stress components, measurable by birefringence. As a backdrop to understanding the new results on shear banding in LAOS, we also briefly review earlier work on banding in other time-dependent protocols, focusing in particular on shear startup and step stress.