Ordering of viscous liquid mixtures under a steady shear flow

Through extensive numerical simulations, we study phase separation in quenched viscous liquid mixtures under an external shear flow. Formation of a layered structure in steady state normal to the shear direction is shown to develop in the strong shear limit. The characteristic width of the layered domains follows a power law as a function of the shear rate, with a power-law exponent in agreement with experimental results. Shear-induced rheological behavior of the mixture is also examined in terms of the excess viscosity. Observed power-law behavior of the maximum excess viscosity, which occurs at an intermediate time, agrees quite well with theoretical scaling predictions.