The rheology of slurries of athermal cohesive micro-particles immersed in fluid: A computational and experimental comparison

•First-principle simulations of cement rheology are compared with rheometer experiments.•Contact forces in simulations, parametrized by atomic force microscopy, link macro and microscales.•Simulation and experiment agree qualitatively over a practical range of conditions.•Particles quickly gel in the simulation due to dominant cohesive forces.•Inclusion of walls improves the agreement between experiment and simulation.