Atomic-scale structure of hard-core fluids under shear flow

Abstract

The effect of velocity correlations on the equal-time density autocorrelation function, e.g. the pair distribution function or pdf, of a hard-sphere fluid undergoing shear flow is investigated. The pdf at contact is calculated within the Enskog approximation and is shown to be in good agreement with molecular dynamics simulations for shear rates below the shear-induced ordering transition. These calculations are used to construct a nonequilibrium generalised mean spherical approximation for the pdf at finite separations which is also found to agree well with the simulation data.