Shear-flow-induced distortion of the structure of a fluid: Application of a simple kinetic equation

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Abstract
The structure of a fluid subjected to a plane Couette flow is calculated starting from a simple model kinetic equation. After the presentation of the general formal solution of this kinetic equation, an expansion in powers of the shear rate is investigated in detail; terms up to order 6 are taken into account. As a specific example, the shear-flow-induced distortion of the structure is analyzed and displayed graphically in the vicinity of its first peak. The pertinent equilibrium structure was chosen to correspond to a soft-sphere fluid where computer simulation data are available for the radial distribution function. Two distinct scattering geometries are considered.