Timescales in shear banding of wormlike micelles

Abstract

We show the existence of three well defined time scales in the dynamics of wormlike micelles after a step between two shear rates on the stress plateau. These time scales are compatible with the presence of a structured interface between bands of different viscosities and correspond to the isotropic band destabilization during the stress overshoot, reconstruction of the interface after the overshoot and travel of a fully formed interface. The last stage can be used to estimate a stress diffusion coefficient.