A unified approach to model elasto-viscoplastic thixotropic yield-stress materials and apparent yield-stress fluids

A constitutive model for elasto-viscoplastic thixotropic materials is proposed. It consists of two differential equations, one for the stress and the other for the structure parameter, a scalar quantity that indicates the structuring level of the microstructure. In contrast to previous models of this kind, the structure parameter varies from zero to a positive and typically large number. The lower limit corresponds to a fully unstructured material, whereas the upper limit corresponds to a fully structured material. When the upper limit is finite, the model represents a highly shear-thinning, thixotropic, and viscoelastic liquid that possesses an apparent yield stress. When it tends to infinity, the behavior of a true yield-stress material is achieved. Predictions for rheometric flows such as constant shear rate tests, creep tests, SAOS, and large-amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS) are presented, and it is shown that, in all cases, the trends observed experimentally are faithfully reproduced by the model. Within the framework of the model, simple explanations are given for the avalanche effect and the shear banding phenomenon. The LAOS results obtained are of particular importance because they provide a piece of information that so far is absent in the literature, namely a quantitative link between the Lissajous-Bowditch curve shapes and rheological effects such as elasticity, thixotropy, and yielding.