Fluids, nature Deborah number

We can get a first approximation of the physical nature of a material from its response time. For a Maxwell element, the relaxation time is the time required for the stress in a stress-strain experiment to decay to 1/e or 0.37 of its initial value. A material with a low relaxation time flows easily so it shows relatively rapid stress decay. Thus, whether a viscoelastic material behaves as a solid or fluid is indicated by its response time and the experimental timescale or observation time. This observation was first made by Marcus Reiner who defined the ratio of the material response time to the experimental timescale as the Deborah Number, Dn-Presumably the name was derived by Reiner from the Biblical quote in Judges 5, Song of Deborah, where it says The mountains flowed before the Lord. ... 

The Deborah number represents the transient nature of the flow relative to the material time scale. In fast processes is very small compared to the fluid s characteristic time and hence De 3> 1), the material will response like an elastic solid, while in slow processes De liquid-like response is expected. 

A few additional comments about when and under what conditions one must use a nonlinear viscoelastic constitutive equation are discussed here. At this time it seems that whenever the flow is unsteady in either a Lagrangian DvIDt 0) or a Eulerian (9v/9r 0) sense, then viscoelastic effects become important. In the former case one finds flows of this nature whenever inhomogeneous shear-free flows arise (e.g., flow through a contraction) and in the latter case in the startup of flows. However, even in simple flows, such as in capillaries or slit dies, viscoelastic effects can be important, especially if the residence time of the fluid in the die is less than the longest relaxation time of the fluid. Then factors such as stress overshoot could lead to an apparent viscosity that is higher than the steady-state viscosity. In line with these ideas one defines a dimensionless group referred to as the Deborah number ... 

---