Define the viscous number
The pressure relation gives
Using , the shear stress at imposed pressure is
The material therefore behaves as a pressure-dependent Bingham plastic with yield stress , while its steady concentration dilates as shear rate increases.
After a step in shear rate, the particles must rearrange and undergo shear-induced dilation or compaction. Because the sample is saturated, that volume change requires pore fluid to migrate through the packing, so pore pressure and effective particle pressure relax over a finite poro-viscous time. Measuring the transient stress can therefore constrain the permeability, and with an independently known permeability can constrain the suspension's compressibility or dilatancy law.
Shear-induced dilation Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-11-05
Shear-induced dilation is the tendency of a dense granular or suspended-particle packing to increase its volume under shear. In a saturated confined system it requires pore-fluid migration and can delay stress adjustment.