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  • Open Access

Contact-network organization and motion statistics in shear-thickening suspensions

Michel Orsi1,2,*, Rahul Pandare1,3, Brolin Adu-Poku1,3, Bulbul Chakraborty4, and Jeffrey F. Morris1,3

  • *Contact author: michel.orsi@polito.it
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Phys. Rev. Fluids 11, 090504 – Published 21 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/3mqw-d22t

Abstract

We use lubricated-flow discrete-element-method simulations to examine how contact-network organization shapes particle motion in dense shear-thickening suspensions. The primary system studied is a two-dimensional bidisperse monolayer where rigid clusters are identified by the (3,3) pebble game; three-dimensional simulations are shown to have qualitatively similar rotational velocity statistics. Across the stress–solid-fraction state diagram, frictional contact number, k≥3 percolation, and rigid-cluster fluctuations all strengthen in the same region where translational velocity correlations grow, consistent with coherent translation within rigid clusters and a state-dependent contrast in relative motion between particles inside and outside them. Rotational motion provides a complementary view: nonaffine angular-velocity distributions broaden, near-contact nonaffine rotational fluctuations become increasingly anticorrelated, and particles inside and outside rigid clusters carry distinct statistics. Connectivity, rigidity, and velocity correlations are related but distinct signatures of the constrained collective motion that accompanies shear thickening and the approach to shear jamming.

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Phys. Rev. Fluids 11, 090504– Published 21 September, 2026
  • Received 29 May 2026
  • Accepted 3 September 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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