Inertia-Dilatancy Interplay Governs Shear Thickening Drop Impact

Combining high-speed photography with direct force measurements, we investigate the impact dynamics of drops of cornstarch-water mixtures-a premier example of shear-thickening fluids-across a wide range of impact conditions. Our Letter identifies three distinct impact regimes. In addition to the liquidlike and solidlike behaviors generally expected for the impact-induced response of shear-thickening fluids, we uncover a counterintuitive regime in which high-concentration cornstarch-water mixtures display a liquidlike response at the onset of impact when shear rates are high and only transition to a solidlike behavior at later times as shear rates reduce. By integrating the classic drop-impact theory with the Reynolds-Darcy mechanism for dilatancy, we develop a unified model that quantitatively describes the impact dynamics of shear-thickening drops across all regimes. Our Letter reveals the unexpected response of shear-thickening fluids to ultrafast deformation and advances the fundamental understanding of drop impact for complex fluids.