Dense suspensions as trainable rheological metafluids

Abstract: Memory-forming properties introduce a new paradigm to the design of adaptive materials. In dense suspensions, an adaptive response is enabled by non-Newtonian rheology; however, typical suspensions have little memory, which implies rapid cessation of any adapted behavior. Here we show how multiple adaptive responses can be achieved by designing suspensions where different stress levels trigger different memories. This is enabled by the interplay of interactions based on frictional contact and dynamic chemical bridging. These two interactions lead to novel rheology with several well-delineated shear thinning and thickening regimes, which enable stress-activated memories associated with opposite time-dependent trends. As a result, in response to different stress levels, the suspension can evolve by either softening or stiffening and is trainable, exhibiting targeted viscosity and energy dissipation with repeated low-velocity impact. Such behavior, usually associated with mechanical metamaterials, suggests that dense suspensions with multiple memories can be viewed as trainable rheological metafluids.