English

How Phase Coexistence affects the mechanical properties of heterogeneous 2D suspensions

Soft Condensed Matter 2026-02-24 v1

Abstract

Although numerical simulations of rheological measurements typically focus on homogeneous systems, heterogeneity can profoundly impact material properties. We report on the rheological properties of a suspension of two-dimensional Lennard-Jones particles across the gas/liquid and the gas/solid coexistence lines of the system. We show how the presence of multiple coexisting states has a significant impact on the mechanical properties of these systems when compared with their homogeneous reference counterparts. Our results establish an extended map to navigate a landscape where not only density and temperature, but also phase coexistence, dictate the transition from viscous to elastic-dominated behavior under shear. These results provides a benchmark for future research into heterogeneous fluids where the coexistence of complex dynamic states is frequently observed.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2602.18819,
  title  = {How Phase Coexistence affects the mechanical properties of heterogeneous 2D suspensions},
  author = {Raul Molina-Prados Lallena and Jose Martin-Roca and Kristian Thijssen and Tyler Shendruk and Angelo Cacciuto and Chantal Valeriani},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.18819},
  year   = {2026}
}