Holes in Shear Thickening Fluid

"Shear thickening fluids" are fluids whose viscosity increases when they are sheared.  A classic example is a mixture of water and cornstarch;  this is a fascinating substance to simply play with.  A newly discovered property of these fluids is their ability to sustain vertical structures like fingers and holes when shaken vertically.     An example of these is shown on the right, and a movie of this phenomenon is available here. The goal of this project is to explain this phenomenon. 

Publications

F. Merkt, R.D. Deegan, D. Goldman, E. Rericha, & H.L. Swinney, “Persistent holes in a fluid”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92 184501 (2004).

Updated May 14, 2008