Extended $μ(J)$-rheology for dense suspensions at oscillatory shear flows

Abstract: Recent studies have highlighted that oscillatory and time-dependent shear flows might help increase flowability of dense suspensions. While most focus has been on cross-flows we here study a simple two-dimensional suspensions where we apply simultaneously oscillatory and stationary shear along the same direction. We first show that the viscosities in this set-up significantly decrease with an increasing magnitude of the oscillations, contrary to previous claims. The decrease can be attributed to the large decrease in the number of contacts and an altered microstructure as the magnitude of the oscillation is increased. As a sub-result we find both an extension to the $\mu(J)$-rheology, a constitutive relationship between the shear stresses and the shear rate, valid for pure oscillatory flows and with a higher shear-jammed packing fraction for suspensions composed of frictional particles compared to steady-shear conditions.