The Effect of Pre-Shear Protocol for a Thixotropic Fluid
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31265/epsh6425Abstract
Recent studies have proposed pre-shear protocols that aim to negate directional bias and improve repeatability using a reset step: a short duration rotation in the opposite direction of the final step in the pre-shear. This should leave the sample in a directionally unbiased state, with little or no residual stress. Using a highly thixotropic fluid, we have tested four different pre-shear protocols: one-directional rotation, rotation with reset as suggested by Choi and Rogers (2020), large-amplitude oscillations with reset proposed by Donley et al. (2026) and a synthesis of the two latter. For the present material, a low-concentration aqueous solution of Laponite® -RD, our results do not indicate that either one of these protocols is better suited than the others, nor, in fact, that they perform better than using no pre-shear protocol at all.
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