On the shear-thinning of alkanes

On the shear-thinning of alkanes | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article On the shear-thinning of alkanes Hongyu Gao, Martin Müser This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3369505/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 20 Dec, 2023 Read the published version in Tribology Letters → Version 1 posted 7 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The approximate power-law dependence ofthe apparent viscosity of liquids on shear rate is of-ten argued to arise from a distribution of energy barri-ers. However, recent work on the Prandtl model, whichconsists of a point mass being dragged by a damped,harmonic spring past a sinusoidal potential, revealed asimilar dependence of the friction on velocity as that ofmany liquids. Here, we demonstrate that this correla-tion is not only qualitative but can also be made quan-titative over a broad temperature range using merelythree dimensionless parameters, at least for alkanes, inparticular hexadecane, at elevated pressure p. Theseand other observations made on our all-atom alkanesimulations at elevated pressure point to the existenceof an elementary instability causing shear thinning. Inaddition, the equilibrium viscosity shows power law de-pendence on p near the cavitation pressure but an expo-nential dependence at large p, while the additional pa-rameter(s) in the Carreau-Yasuda equation comparedto other rheological models turn out justifiable. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 20 Dec, 2023 Read the published version in Tribology Letters → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 03 Nov, 2023 Reviews received at journal 13 Oct, 2023 Reviewers agreed at journal 23 Sep, 2023 Reviewers invited by journal 22 Sep, 2023 Submission checks completed at journal 20 Sep, 2023 Editor assigned by journal 20 Sep, 2023 First submitted to journal 19 Sep, 2023 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3369505","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":235101592,"identity":"87a85b7b-3597-4b9f-b1fb-03afef9e3ced","order_by":0,"name":"Hongyu Gao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Saarland University","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hongyu","middleName":"","lastName":"Gao","suffix":""},{"id":235101593,"identity":"ced82478-5236-4c09-8c1d-48aabb5d3ce2","order_by":1,"name":"Martin Müser","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Saarland University","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Martin","middleName":"","lastName":"Müser","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2023-09-19 14:59:32","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3369505/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3369505/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-023-01813-5","type":"published","date":"2023-12-20T15:01:11+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":48776682,"identity":"d93fd4b8-26bc-46b4-a426-0af05745c1a3","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2023-12-25 15:07:11","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":466772,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ShearThinning2.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3369505/v1_covered_3043339e-e11b-4aba-b4b7-3d20007169dd.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"On the shear-thinning of alkanes","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"tribology-letters","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"tril","sideBox":"Learn more about [Tribology Letters](https://www.springer.com/journal/11249)","snPcode":"11249","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/11249/3","title":"Tribology Letters","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3369505/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3369505/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The approximate power-law dependence ofthe apparent viscosity of liquids on shear rate is of-ten argued to arise from a distribution of energy barri-ers. 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