Reentrant transition in the shear viscosity of dilute rigid rod dispersions

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The intrinsic viscosity of a dilute dispersion of rigid rods is studied using a recently developed direct numerical simulation (DNS) method for particle dispersions. A reentrant transition from shear-thinning to the 2nd Newtonian regime is successfully reproduced in the present DNS results around a Peclet number Pe=150, which is in good agreement with our theoretical prediction of Pe=143, at which the dynamical crossover from Brownian to non-Brownian behavior takes place in the rotational motion of the rotating rod. The viscosity undershoot is observed in our simulations before reaching the 2nd Newtonian regime. The physical mechanisms behind these behaviors are analyzed in detail.