Structure and Rheology of Complex Fluids

3 units

Complex fluids are a broad class of materials that have a microstructure that is much smaller than the macroscopic scale but much larger than molecular size. These materials are central to a wide range of industrial, environmental, and biomedical applications. This course will cover basic rheological and structural measurements and data interpretation of complex fluids. We will study structure, dynamics, and flow properties of polymers, colloids, liquid crystals, and other substances with both liquid and solid-like characteristics. Selected topics include: Rheology of polymer solutions, colloidal suspensions, constitutive equations, self-assembling fluids such as surfactants, liquid crystals, block copolymers, and their roles in nanotechnology; geophysical flows (granular flow, lava flow, etc); microfluidics (blood flow, cells in microchannels).