Yield-stress materials form an interesting class of materials that behave like solids at small stresses, but start to flow once a critical stress is exceeded. It has already been reported both in experimental and simulation work that flow curves of different yield-stress materials can be scaled with the distance to jamming or with the confining pressure. However, different scaling exponents are found between experiments and simulations. In this paper we identify sources of this discrepancy. We numerically relate the volume fraction with the confining pressure and discuss the similarities and differences between rotational and oscillatory measurements. Whereas simulations are performed in the elastic response regime close to the jamming transition and with very small amplitudes to calculate the scaling exponents, these conditions are hardly possible to achieve experimentally. Measurements are often performed far away from the critical volume fraction and at large amplitudes. We show that these differences are the underlying reason for the different exponents for rescaling flow curves.@en

The formation and destabilization of viscoelastic filaments are of importance in many industrial and biological processes. Filament instabilities have been observed for viscoelastic fluids but recently also for soft elastic solids. In this work, we address the central question of how to connect the dynamical behavior of viscoelastic liquids to that of soft elastic solids. We take advantage of a biopolymer material whose viscoelastic properties can be tuned over a very large range by its pH, and study the destabilization and ensuing instabilities in uniaxial extensional deformation. In agreement with very recent theory, we find that the interface shapes dictated by the instabilities converge to an identical similarity solution for low-viscosity viscoelastic fluids and highly elastic gels. We thereby bridge the gap between very fluid and strongly elastic materials. In addition, we provide direct evidence that at late times an additional filament instability occurs due to a dynamical phase separation.@en

Small conical-shaped jets may emanate from a liquid bath a short while after a small drop has hit a liquid pool. Here we perform Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements of the liquid flow inside upward jets after drop impact and show that fluid elements inside the jets may decelerate up to 5-20 times the gravitational acceleration. The measurements show that both the shape of the jet and the velocity profile are self-similar. A theoretical model including surface tension, fluid inertia and gravity correctly predicts the self-similar velocity profile and shape of the jet, allowing us to provide the first quantitative explanation of the shape and dynamics of the emanating jets. @en

We show that foams and emulsions can display a fundamentally different normal response to a simple shear deformation. While foams dilate or push outwards on the shearing surfaces, known as a positive Poynting effect, in emulsions the Poynting effect can have either sign and can be tuned by changing the emulsion properties. We relate the sign of the Poynting effect to the presence of a compressible contact network supported by adhesive contacts. When the concentration of surfactant in the continuous phase is low, the emulsions are nonadhesive and push outward on their shearing surfaces, as do the foams. When the surfactant concentration is increased, the emulsions become adhesive due to depletion interactions, and the Poynting effect changes sign. We argue that the adhesive contact network develops a shear modulus that stiffens in response to dilation, which leads to the negative Poynting effect. @en