Viscometric functions of concentrated non-colloidal suspensions of spheres in a viscoelastic matrix

We have measured the viscometric functions (η, N1, and N2) for a suspension of noncolloidal spherical particles in a Boger fluid matrix. The polymethyl methacrylate particles were nominally 40 μm in size, and the matrix fluid was similar to that used by Zarraga et al. [J. Rheol. 45, 1065–1084 (2001)]. The volume concentrations (ϕ) ranged from 5% to 40%, and a combination of the open trough and parallel-plate methods was used. The viscosity did not shear-thin for higher concentrations, unlike the Newtonian matrix case; for the larger concentrations we saw a mild shear-thickening. This is in agreement with the work of Zarraga et al. [J. Rheol. 45, 1065–1084 (2001)] and Scirocco et al. [J. Rheol. 49, 551–567 (2005)]. N2 was always negative, and its magnitude increased with concentration. N1 was initially positive as in the matrix fluid, but for ϕ>0.3, it became negative, similar to the result of Aral and Kalyon [J. Rheol. 41, 599–620 (1997)]; also, we found, at a constant shear stress, that |N2/N1| was great...