Simulating sheared colloidal suspensions with SRD-MD

Abstract

We simulate colloidal suspensions under shear using a technique that is a hybrid between stochastic rotation dynamics and molecular dynamics (SRD-MD). Shear is properly introduced and thermostatted for a system with embedded colloids. Relevant transport quantities like viscosity and stress tensors are also calculated. The computed viscosity of the infinitely dilute case (0.001 Pa·s) agrees with the experimentally observed quantity. We also obtain expressions for the stress-tensor components in the case where colloids are embedded in the fluid. This work can be generalized to compute for the shear viscosity of colloidal suspensions.