Experimental study and model simulation of spinodal decomposition in a binary mixture under shear

We report results of a detailed study by light scattering and a model simulation of spinodal decomposition in a binary liquid mixture under constant uniform shear flow. The effects of flow are found to be important when the growth rate of the phase-separating domains is smaller than the shear rate. The growth of these domains is strongly modified by the shear flow only in certain directions. In the direction perpendicular both to the flow and shear, the flow has little effect on the growth. Some essential features observed in the experiments are reproduced in a computer simulation that incorporates only the deformation produced by the flow. The effect of surface tension must be considered to account for the other observed effects. A new growth mechanism can be induced by the interaction of capillary forces with the shear flow.