QUANTITATIVE PREDICTIONS OF SUSPENSION RHEOLOGY BY NONEQUILIBRIUM BROWNIAN DYNAMICS AND HYDRODYNAMIC PREAVERAGING

Nonequilibrium Brownian dynamics simulations are applied to model a hi ghly concentrated dispersion of charged particles at high ionic streng th. Through the use of hydrodynamic preaveraging, as applied to the ov erdamped Langevin equation, and correlations appropriate for hard sphe res, good predictions are obtained for the suspension shear viscosity at low to moderate shear rates. At higher shear rates, the influence o f near-field hydrodynamic interactions on the suspension microstructur e invalidates the preaveraging approach. (C) 1997 The Society of Rheol ogy.