2026/03/09 by Alexis Bougouin, Henri Lhuissier, Yoël Forterre +1 · 1 voice
Chemical Engineering · Engineering · #Dam Engineering and Safety #Rheology and Fluid Dynamics Studies #Vibration Control and Rheological Fluids
paper · doi:10.1103/w1zz-4pbb
openalex publication_date 2026/03/09 · openalex created_date 2026/03/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/09
Shear-thickening suspensions-materials that abruptly become more viscous or jam under stress-are widespread in nature and industry. Yet their dynamics in gravity-driven flows remain poorly understood. Here, we show that such suspensions spread by forming a sharp, vertical front-a liquid dam-that advances at a constant speed, independent of released volume, flow height, and slope. This counterintuitive behavior arises from a jammed, frictional front that localizes dissipation and decouples flow dynamics from geometry. A simple gravito-rheological model predicts the observed constant-speed regime, with a velocity scale set by the suspension rheology. The same scaling governs spreading and wave propagation across diverse flow configurations, revealing how shear thickening can critically shape gravity-driven flows in both natural and industrial settings.