Fractal model of consolidation of weakly aggregated colloidal dispersions

Abstract

A microrheological model for the consolidation of aggregated colloidal dispersion is presented. Interparticle forces are responsible for the formation of the fractal-like network of particles chains. Aggregation is supposed to be weak in that the chains are gradually created and annihilated. In the framework of this model a constitutive equation is proposed which includes linear dependence of the normal stress upon consolidation rate at low stresses and yieldlike behavior as the stress reaches critical value. Our constitutive equation thus generalizes earlier models based on the compressive yield stress concept by taking into account the deformation in the low-compression limit (analog to the Newtonian flow in the low-shear limit). The constitutive equation is employed to calculate numerically concentration profiles of consolidating samples in better agreement with the experimental data for weakly aggregated alumina dispersions. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.