Une « boue » est constituée de particules submillimétriques immergées dans un fluide. Nous étudions des boues concentrées (ou « pâtes granulaires »), où la concentration en particules est proche du maximum réalisable. Les particules peuvent être plus denses que le fluide, et sédimenter, ou être équilibrées en densité. Ces deux cas sont examinés, à l’aide d’une boue modèle. Nous étudions les écoulements de ces boues dans une cellule de Couette. Les expériences utilisent des méthodes innovantes, permettant de mesurer les vitesses des grains individuellement et collectivement, et les profils de concentration sous cisaillement. Les expériences apportent des informations nouvelles sur les écoulements, comme l’existence de courants de re-circulation. Les résultats sur les vitesses azimutales et concentrations sont en accord avec la théorie de Morris et Boulay d’équilibre des forces normales, pour un rapport convenable des coefficients viscométriques des forces tangentielle et normales. / Wet granular materials are made of solid particles in high concentration, immersed in a viscous fluid. We investigated particle dynamics in a model granular suspension in Couette geometry, at low Reynolds/Taylor numbers for density and non density matched suspension. We used innovated techniques such as: Single Particle Tracking (SPT), Multi Particles Video Trajectography (MPVT) and Concentration Photometry (CP). These experiments allow us to provide information about single and collective motion of grains as well as particle repartition (local volume fraction). We investigated fully 3D velocity profiles in concentrated suspensions, diffusion coefficients, particle fluctuations and recirculation motion, also differential flows. We observe that the flow of non density matched suspensions is localized near the inner cylinder in the low shear rate regime, resulting in a sheared layer only a few particle diameters in thickness, in a way very similar to sheared dry granular materials. At high enough angular velocity, the initially localized flow crosses over to full fluidization: in this regime the granular suspension nearly behaves as a density-matched suspension. Dependence between particles’ velocity and associated fluctuation amplitude is evidenced. Experiments as velocity and concentration profiles were compared with theoretical prediction based on the force balance model and different viscometric laws were investigated for normal and shear forces.

O escoamento estratificado óleo-água é bastante comum na indústria do petróleo, especialmente em poços direcionas offshore, oleodutos e gasodutos. Entretanto, existem poucos trabalhos na literatura sobre a natureza da estrutura ondulatória observada no escoamento em dutos ascendentes ou descendentes a partir da horizontal. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar as propriedades geométricas e cinemáticas da onda interfacial, i.e, forma média, comprimento, amplitude e celeridade, e assim contribuir para a compreensão do papel da onda interfacial na dinâmica do escoamento estratificado. Um software baseado em plataforma Labview® possibilitou a automação para obtenção dos dados das ondas interfaciais extraídas de imagens de vídeos de alta resolução. Além das propriedades das ondas, também se coletaram valores de fração volumétrica in situ e de gradiente de pressão bifásico para cinco ângulos de inclinação (-20°, -10°, 0°, 10° e 20°) em diferentes pares de vazões de óleo e água. Desenvolveu-se um modelo fenomenológico considerando os termos ondulatórios do escoamento para o cálculo da fração volumétrica in situ e do gradiente de pressão bifásico, sendo comparado com modelos disponíveis na literatura e dados experimentais. A concordância do modelo proposto com os dados coletados neste trabalho se mostrou muito boa, o que sugere um avanço em comparação ao existente na literatura. O estudo da equação da onda de perturbação interfacial para o escoamento estratificado óleo-água indicou que a natureza da onda observada é cinemática e não dinâmica; e baseado na equação da celeridade da onda cinemática pode-se confrontar a celeridade experimental com a teórica, revelando boa concordância. / The oil-water stratified flow is quite common in the oil industry, especially in offshore directional wells and pipelines. However, there are few studies on the physics of the wavy structure observed in upward and downward stratified flow. The goal of this work was to study the geometric and kinematic properties of interfacial waves, i.e., the average shape, wavelength, amplitude and celerity. A homemade Labview®-based software enabled the automatic acquisition of data extracted from frames obtained via high resolution video recording. In situ volume fraction and two-phase pressure gradient data for five inclination angles (-20°, -10°, 0°, 10° and 20°) at several pairs of oil and water flow rates were also collected. A phenomenological model that takes into account the wavy structure is proposed to calculate volume fractions and two-phase pressure gradient and it was compared with available models from the literature and experimental data. The good agreement of the proposed model with the data collected in this study is promising and suggests that it may provide better predictions in comparison with models from the literature. The study of the interfacial perturbation wave equation for stratified flow indicates that the observed waves nature is kinematic and not dynamic; and based on the kinematic wave velocity equation we could compare the experimental celerity with the theoretical one, with good agreement.

Trabecular bone is a porous composite material which consists of a mineral phase (mainly hydroxyapatite), organic phase (mostly type I collagen) and water assembled into a complex, hierarchical structure. In biomechanical modelling, its mechanical response to loads is generally assumed to be instantaneous, i.e. it is treated as a time-independent material. It is, however, recognised that the response of trabecular bone to loads is time-dependent. Study of this time-dependent behaviour is important in several contexts such as: to understand energy dissipation ability of bone; to understand the age-related non-traumatic fractures; to predict implant loosening due to cyclic loading; to understand progressive vertebral deformity; and for pre-clinical evaluation of total joint replacement. To investigate time-dependent behaviour, bovine trabecular bone samples were subjected to compressive loading, creep, unloading and recovery at multiple load levels (corresponding to apparent strain of 2,000-25,000 με). The results show that: the time-dependent behaviour of trabecular bone comprises of both recoverable and irrecoverable strains; the strain response is nonlinearly related to applied load levels; and the response is associated with bone volume fraction. It was found that bone with low porosity demonstrates elastic stiffening followed by elastic softening, while elastic softening is demonstrated by porous bone at relatively low loads. Linear, nonlinear viscoelastic and nonlinear viscoelastic-viscoplastic constitutive models were developed to predict trabecular bone's time-dependent behaviour. Nonlinear viscoelastic constitutive model was found to predict the recovery behaviour well, while nonlinear viscoelastic-viscoplastic model predicts the full creep-recovery behaviour reasonably well. Depending on the requirements all these models can be used to incorporate time-dependent behaviour in finite element models. To evaluate the contribution of the key constituents of trabecular bone and its microstructure, tests were conducted on demineralised and deproteinised samples. Reversed cyclic loading experiments (tension to compression) were conducted on demineralised trabecular bone samples. It was found that demineralised bone exhibits asymmetric mechanical response - elastic stiffening in tension and softening in compression. This tension to compression transition was found to be smooth. Tensile multiple-load-creep-unload-recovery experiments on demineralised trabecular samples show irrecoverable strain (or residual strain) even at the low stress levels. Demineralised trabecular bone samples demonstrate elastic stiffening with increasing load levels in tension, and their time-dependent behaviour is nonlinear with respect to applied loads . Nonlinear viscoelastic constitutive model was developed which can predict its recovery behaviour well. Experiments on deproteinised samples showed that their modulus and strength are reasonably well related to bone volume fraction. The study considers an application of time-dependent behaviour of trabecular bone. Time-dependent properties are assigned to trabecular bone in a bone-screw system, in which the screw is subjected to cyclic loading. It is found that separation between bone and the screw at the interface can increase with increasing number of cycles which can accentuate loosening. The relative larger deformation occurs when this system to be loaded at the higher loading frequency. The deformation at the bone-screw interface is related to trabecular bone's bone volume fraction; screws in a more porous bone are at a higher risk of loosening.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T20:43:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Pedro Henrique F Oliveira.pdf: 13888256 bytes, checksum: 45c80d3205c28d94e4c7c0eb2987187f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-09-23 / The aim of this study was to produce deposit of the alloy AA 6351-T6, filled with alumina particles, on an AA5052-32 alloy substrate using friction-surfacing technology. The depositions were performed with holes in the AA6351-T6 consumable rods, which were filled with particulate alumina (Al2O3). A conventional milling machine, KONE KFE-3 / BR, available by SENAI Ponta Grossa – Paraná, was used to carry out the deposition. The control parameter used for the making the deposits was the rod feed rate being calculated from the relationship between the upward axial displacement in the Z axis (Dz) of the machine table and the total time (t) of deposition. The deposits obtained were evaluated from their physical aspects such as width, thickness and length. In addition, bending tests were conducted for a qualitative assessment of the influence of the alumina particles in the adhesion of the deposit to the substrate and microhardness profiles were obtained to evaluate the influence of the alumina particles produced in the hardness of the deposits. Images of optical microscopy images (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were obtained to evaluate the microstructure and morphology of the deposits produced. The volume fraction of alumina particles in the deposits were obtained by digital processing of the images by optical microscopy. EBSD analysis of deposits in specific regions were performed in order to support the microstructural analysis, enabling verify grain size distribution in different regions of deposits showing the existence of substructures indicating the occurrence of dynamic recrystallization phenomenon. The results showed that it was possible to produce deposits with a refined microstructure and with a certain dispersion of alumina particles. Depositions with two holes in the rod produced deposits with higher volume fraction, and this increase in volume fraction was accompanied by higher hardness values. / O presente trabalho buscou depositar a liga AA 6351-T6, preenchida com partículas de alumina (Al2O3), sobre um substrato de liga AA5052-32 através da tecnologia de deposição superficial por atrito (friction surfacing). As deposições foram realizadas com um e dois furos nas hastes de liga AA6351-T6, que foram preenchidos com partículas de alumina. Para a realização das deposições foi utilizada uma fresadora convencional KONE KFE-3/BR disponibilizada pelo SENAI Ponta Grossa – Paraná. O parâmetro de controle utilizado para a confecção dos depósitos foi a taxa de alimentação da haste, sendo calculada a partir da relação entre o deslocamento axial ascendente no eixo Z (Dz) da mesa da máquina com o tempo total (t) de deposição. Os depósitos obtidos após o processamento foram avaliados a partir de seus aspectos físicos tais quais largura, espessura e comprimento. Também foram realizados ensaios de dobramento para uma avaliação qualitativa da influência das partículas de alumina na adesão do depósito no substrato e foram obtidos perfis de microdureza para avaliação da influência das partículas de alumina na dureza dos depósitos produzidos. Foram obtidas imagens de microscopia ótica (MO) e microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV) para avaliação da microestrutura e morfologia dos depósitos produzidos. Ainda foi obtida a fração volumétrica das partículas de alumina nos depósitos produzidos através de processamento digital das imagens obtidas por microscopia óptica. Análises de EBSD em regiões específicas dos depósitos foram realizadas com o intuito de reforçar a análise microestrutural possibilitando verificar a distribuição de tamanho de grão em diferentes regiões dos depósitos, mostrando a existência de subestruturas indicando a ocorrência do fenômeno de recristalização dinâmica. Os resultados mostraram que foi possível produzir depósitos com uma microestrutura refinada e com uma certa dispersão de partículas de alumina. As deposições com dois furos na haste produziram depósitos com maior fração volumétrica, sendo que esse aumento da fração volumétrica foi acompanhada pelo aumento dos valores de dureza.

Les suspensions non browniennes présentent un comportement rhéologique très différent en fonction de leur concentration. L'écoulement de suspensions semi-diluées est newtonien et montre une migration des particules provoquant des hétérogénéités de concentration. Au contraire, les suspensions concentrées présentent un large éventail de phénomènes rhéologiques non linéaire. Ce travail cherche à mieux comprendre les écoulements de suspensions dans différente gamme de concentration. A basse concentration,une étude de la migration est réalisée afin de quantifier les forces responsables de ce phénomène. Pour cela, les forces de migration sont comparées aux forces de sédimentation,grâce à un écoulement unidirectionnel et confiné. Des techniques de suivi de particules avancées et la microscopie confocale, permettent une mesure systématiquement à la fois des profils de fraction volumique et des profils de vitesse. Plusieurs systèmes sont comparés afin de mettre en évidence que les forces hydrodynamiques jouent un rôle important dans la migration. La seconde partie de ce travail consiste à caractériser l'écoulement d'un système rhéoépaississant. Des techniques de rhéologie locale, tel que la vélocimétrie ultrasonore et la tomographie RX sont utilisées dans différentes cellules de Couette. Ces techniques permettent de mesurer les profils de fraction volumique et les profils de vitesse. Nous soulevons que les propriétés rhéologiques dépendent fortement du confinement et de la rugosité, et parfois, nous avons observé instabilités dues aux interfaces. / Flows of non-Brownian suspensions are present in different fields, and exhibitdifferent behavior in function of concentration. Flows of semi-dilute suspensions aremainly governed by the spatial repartition of the particles. At low Reynolds numbers,it is indeed generally non-uniform due to cross-stream migration towards low shearedregions of the flow. In this work we aim at testing the idea that interactions betweenparticles could also be involved in the shear induced migration phenomenon. In orderto quantify the strength of shear induced migration, we take advantage of horizontalflow of buoyant particles in slits, where viscous resuspension is in competitionwith buoyancy.Using advanced particle imaging velocimetrie techniques and confocalmicroscopy, we measure systematically both volume fraction and velocity profiles.We compare two systems with and without interaction and any different was found.Concentrated suspensions exhibit a wide range of non linear rheological phenomena.This work characterizes the local rheology of a continuous shear thickening. We areused ultrasonic rheology and tomography RX in Couette cell for measured the volumefraction profile and velocity profile. We report that the rheological properties dependstrongly of the confinement and roughness, and sometimes we observed instabilitiesdue to the interface.

O escoamento estratificado óleo-água é bastante comum na indústria do petróleo, especialmente em poços direcionas offshore, oleodutos e gasodutos. Entretanto, existem poucos trabalhos na literatura sobre a natureza da estrutura ondulatória observada no escoamento em dutos ascendentes ou descendentes a partir da horizontal. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar as propriedades geométricas e cinemáticas da onda interfacial, i.e, forma média, comprimento, amplitude e celeridade, e assim contribuir para a compreensão do papel da onda interfacial na dinâmica do escoamento estratificado. Um software baseado em plataforma Labview® possibilitou a automação para obtenção dos dados das ondas interfaciais extraídas de imagens de vídeos de alta resolução. Além das propriedades das ondas, também se coletaram valores de fração volumétrica in situ e de gradiente de pressão bifásico para cinco ângulos de inclinação (-20°, -10°, 0°, 10° e 20°) em diferentes pares de vazões de óleo e água. Desenvolveu-se um modelo fenomenológico considerando os termos ondulatórios do escoamento para o cálculo da fração volumétrica in situ e do gradiente de pressão bifásico, sendo comparado com modelos disponíveis na literatura e dados experimentais. A concordância do modelo proposto com os dados coletados neste trabalho se mostrou muito boa, o que sugere um avanço em comparação ao existente na literatura. O estudo da equação da onda de perturbação interfacial para o escoamento estratificado óleo-água indicou que a natureza da onda observada é cinemática e não dinâmica; e baseado na equação da celeridade da onda cinemática pode-se confrontar a celeridade experimental com a teórica, revelando boa concordância. / The oil-water stratified flow is quite common in the oil industry, especially in offshore directional wells and pipelines. However, there are few studies on the physics of the wavy structure observed in upward and downward stratified flow. The goal of this work was to study the geometric and kinematic properties of interfacial waves, i.e., the average shape, wavelength, amplitude and celerity. A homemade Labview®-based software enabled the automatic acquisition of data extracted from frames obtained via high resolution video recording. In situ volume fraction and two-phase pressure gradient data for five inclination angles (-20°, -10°, 0°, 10° and 20°) at several pairs of oil and water flow rates were also collected. A phenomenological model that takes into account the wavy structure is proposed to calculate volume fractions and two-phase pressure gradient and it was compared with available models from the literature and experimental data. The good agreement of the proposed model with the data collected in this study is promising and suggests that it may provide better predictions in comparison with models from the literature. The study of the interfacial perturbation wave equation for stratified flow indicates that the observed waves nature is kinematic and not dynamic; and based on the kinematic wave velocity equation we could compare the experimental celerity with the theoretical one, with good agreement.

It is well known that surface tension of a liquid has a decisive role in flow dynamics and the eventual equilibrium state, especially in confined flows under low gravity conditions and also in free surface flows. One such instance of a combination of these two cases where surface tension plays an important role is in the microgravity environment of a spacecraft propellant tank. In this specific case both propellant acquisition and residual propellant estimation are critical to the mission objectives particularly in the end-of-life phase. While there have been a few studies pertaining to the equilibrium state in given geometric configurations, the transient flow leading to final state from an initial arbitrary distribution of propellant is rarely described. The present study is aimed at analysing the dynamic behaviour of the liquids under reduced gravity through numerical simulation and also addresses the specific case of propellant flow transient in a cone-in-a-sphere type of tank configuration proposed by Lal and Raghunandan which is likely to result in both improved acquisition and life time estimation of spacecraft. While addressing this specific problem, the present work aims to study the transient nature of such surface tension driven flows in a general form as applicable to other similar problems also. Volume of Fluid (VOF) method for multiphase model in ANSYS FLUENT was adapted with suitable changes for generating numerical solutions to this problem. Simulations were run for three different cone angles of 17o, 21o & 28o with a flat liquid surface for full scale models to measure the rise height and time of rise. Two scaled models of ½ and 1/10th of the original dimensions with the same liquid configuration of the 28o cone angle case were simulated to see if the time scales involved would come down for experimental feasibility. A third simulation of the 1/10th scale model was run with the liquid spread in the tank to imitate the general conditions found in the propellant tank in microgravity. To understand the behaviour of liquids in the microgravity state to changing physical parameters, a set of simulations was run using liquid phases as water and hydrazine with different physical parameters of temperature and surface tension. The theory put forward by Lal and Raghunandan was found to stand firm. In the case of the cone angle of 28o it was observed that in the final equilibrium state the liquid collected towards the apex of the cone with the larger volume fraction of liquid accumulating inside the cone. An addition of a cylindrical section at the bottom of the cone seems to help although not uniformly for all case. The equilibrium settling times for all the three cone angle cases were in the order of 300 to 600 seconds for simulations on a spherical tank of diameter two metres which was close to the actual tank dimension used on spacecraft. Scaled down simulations of 1/10th and ½ the tank geometry with both flat liquid surfaces and spread out liquid volumes showed that the smaller models had equilibrium settling times which were considerably lower (in the order of tens of seconds) than the full scale models. Although smaller, these time scales are larger than the maximum time scales available in drop tower tests which provide a maximum free fall time of around 9 to 10 seconds. Validation of the proposed configuration by flying an aircraft in a parabolic flight path is a possibility that could be explored for the scaled down models since the zero-g duration for these flights is on an average between 15-20 seconds.

Nickel based superalloys are currently being investigated for high temperature applications in advanced steam power plant operating at temperatures of 700˚C and above. Three nickel-based superalloys Inconel 617, Inconel 625 and Nimonic 263 alloys, which are of primary interest for boiler technology components such as furnace walls, superheater tubes, header and steam pipes, etc and for steam turbine technology components such as HP &IP cylinders, rotor forgings, casing and valve chest, blading, etc., have been evaluated for long and short term creep performance. Creep deformation processes occurring at high temperatures and stresses lead to the evolution of microstructures in the form of precipitation, precipitate coarsening and recovery effects. The deterioration in mechanical properties as a result of this microstructural change has been evaluated by hardness testing. This work discusses the microstructural evolution occurring in alloys in samples that have been creep exposed at a series of temperatures from 650°C to 775°C and for durations from 1000 to 45,000 hours using advanced FEGSEM, TEM, XRD and phase extraction techniques. The fractions and morphology of different phases, their locations during exposure to higher temperatures and probable creep fracture mechanism in these alloys are illustrated and discussed.

Combustion-generated carbon black nano particles, or soot, have both positive and negative effects depending on the application. From a positive point of view, it is used as a reinforcing agent in tires, black pigment in inks, and surface coatings. From a negative point of view, it affects performance and durability of many combustion systems, it is a major contributor of global warming, and it is linked to respiratory illness and cancer. Laser-Induced Incandescence (LII) was used in this study to measure soot volume fractions in four steady and twenty-eight pulsed ethylene diffusion flames burning at atmospheric pressure. A laminar coflow diffusion burner combined with a very-high-speed solenoid valve and control circuit provided unsteady flows by forcing the fuel flow with frequencies between 10 Hz and 200 Hz. Periodic flame oscillations were captured by two-dimensional phase-locked LII images and broadband luminosity images for eight phases (0°- 360°) covering each period. A comparison between the steady and pulsed flames and the effect of the pulsation frequency on soot volume fraction in the flame region and the post flame region are presented. The most significant effect of pulsing frequency was observed at 10 Hz. At this frequency, the flame with the lowest mean flow rate had 1.77 times enhancement in peak soot volume fraction and 1.2 times enhancement in total soot volume fraction; whereas the flame with the highest mean flow rate had no significant change in the peak soot volume fraction and 1.4 times reduction in the total soot volume fraction. A correlation (ƒv Reˉ1 = a+b· Str) for the total soot volume fraction in the flame region for the unsteady laminar ethylene flames was obtained for the pulsation frequency between 10 Hz and 200 Hz, and the Reynolds number between 37 and 55. The soot primary particle size in steady and unsteady flames was measured using the Time-Resolved Laser-Induced Incandescence (TIRE-LII) and the double-exponential fit method. At maximum frequency (200 Hz), the soot particles were smaller in size by 15% compared to the steady case in the flame with the highest mean flow rate.

Les purées de fruits et légumes sont considérées dans ce travail comme des suspensions concentrées de particules végétales déformables suspendues dans une phase aqueuse non-Newtonienne, riche en sucre et en pectines solubles. Par une approche de type sciences des matériaux, ce travail a pour but de mieux comprendre et modéliser les relations structure-propriétés de ces systèmes à base de végétaux transformés.Pour limiter les facteurs de variabilité liés à la variété, la maturité ou au procédé de transformation des fruits, un lot unique de purée de pommes Golden Delicious a été utilisé pour l’intégralité de ce travail.L’utilisation de traitements mécaniques variables a permis de mettre en avant l’importance des paramètres de structures sur les propriétés rhéologiques des suspensions de particules végétales et de confirmer l’impact de premier ordre de la concentration en particules sur les propriétés rhéologiques. Trois domaines de concentration ont été mis en évidence et modélisés, permettant ainsi de proposer une définition de la fraction volumique pour ces particules végétales molles et très déformables, la fraction volumique des suspensions de particules végétales ne faisant pas encore consensus en littérature. La définition proposée dans ce travail permet, à phase continue équivalente, d’obtenir une courbe maitresse regroupant les différentes distributions de taille de particules sur toutes les gammes de concentration étudiées.Afin de mieux appréhender l’impact de la phase continue sur le comportement rhéologique des suspensions de particules végétales, des particules modèles ont été mises au point à partir du lot de purée réelle et suspendues dans cinq phases aqueuses modèles variant en viscosité, en composition et en force ionique. Les résultats de cette étude permettent de conclure que les propriétés élastiques des suspensions concentrées sont essentiellement gouvernées par les interactions entre les particules, la phase continue ayant un impact négligeable. Le rôle lubrifiant de la phase continue en domaine concentré a pu être mis en évidence par les mesures de seuil d’écoulement et par les mesures de viscosité.Une approche originale combinant particules modèles, microscopie confocale et reconstitution 3D a permis d’accéder aux modifications morphologiques subies par les particules en milieu très concentré, donnant ainsi accès aux ordres de grandeurs de diminution de volume subie par les particules lors de l’encombrement du système.Ce travail a également permis d’aboutir à la proposition d’une loi d’écoulement permettant de modéliser la dépendance de la viscosité à la fraction volumique occupée par les particules végétales, sur une large gamme de concentration. Ce modèle représente une avancée certaine dans la compréhension de ces systèmes, aucun modèle comparable n’avait encore été proposé dans la littérature sur ce type de particules. / In this work, fruit and vegetable purees are considered as concentrated suspensions of soft, deformable plant particles, suspended in a non-Newtonian aqueous phase, containing sugar and soluble pectins. Using a materials science approach, this work aims in better understanding and modelling the structure/properties relationships of plant based processed systems.A single batch of Golden Delicious apple puree was used in this work to avoid variability related to variety, maturity or processing method.Mechanical treatments were used to highlight the impact of structural parameters on the rheological behaviour of plant particles suspensions. It confirms the first order impact of particle concentration on rheological properties. Three concentration domains have been identified and modelled, allowing to provide a definition of the volume fraction for these soft and highly deformable plant particles. The volume fraction of plant particle suspensions is not forming consensus yet in literature. The definition proposed in this work allows to built a master curve bringing together the different particle size distributions, all over the concentrations studied.To understand the impact of the continuous phase on the rheological behaviour of plant particle suspensions, model particles have been developed from the original batch of apple puree. Model particles were suspended in five controlled aqueous phases varying in viscosity, composition, and ionic strength. This study shows that elastic properties of concentrated suspensions are essentially governed by the interactions between the particles, continuous phase having a negligible impact. The lubricating role of the continuous phase in the concentrated domain has been highlighted by yield stress and viscosity measurements.An original approach combining model particles, confocal microscopy and 3D reconstruction gives us access to morphological changes experienced by particles in very concentrated medium. The volume decrease experienced by the particles was evaluated. In this work, a model describing the dependence of the viscosity to the volume fraction of soft plant particles was proposed. This model represents a clear progress in the understanding of these systems. No comparable model has ever been proposed in the literature to describe this kind of plant particles.