Sprakel, JorisLindström, Stefan B.Kodger, Thomas E.Weitz, David A.2019-10-092011Sprakel, Joris, Stefan B. Lindström, Thomas E. Kodger, and David A. Weitz. 2011. “Stress Enhancement in the Delayed Yielding of Colloidal Gels.” Physical Review Letters106 (24): 248303. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.248303.0031-90071079-71141092-0145http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:41511296Networks of aggregated colloidal particles are solidlike and can sustain an applied shear stress while exhibiting little or no creep; however, ultimately they will catastrophically fail. We show that the time delay for this yielding decreases in two distinct exponential regimes with applied stress. This behavior is universal and found for a variety of colloidal gel systems. We present a bond-rupture model that quantitatively describes this behavior and highlights the role of mesoscopic structures. Our result gives new insight into the nature of yielding in these soft solid materials.en-USJournal Article2019-10-0910.1103/PhysRevLett.106.248303