Shear rheometers

Fig. 11-28. Typical rheometer shear rate ranges and polymer melt flow curve. The lower shear rate region of the flow curve exhibits viscosities that appear to be independent of y. This is the lower Newtonian region.

Fluids exhibiting Newtonian behaviour have constant viscosities as defined by Eqn. (1), and single point measurement at a convenient shear rate is sufficient to describe such a fluid. However, non-Newtonian fluids have viscosities that are shear rate-dependent, and a single point measurement is inadequate to describe the flow behaviour. Here, the relevant shear rate range in the engineering application must be assessed and used in determining the measurement conditions for the viscometer/rheometer. Shear rate-dependent viscosity is often referred to as apparent viscosity, Tja, but there is no need to make this distinction if it is accepted that viscosity, as defined in Eqn. (1), can be variable. However, it is essential that values of T are quoted with their corresponding values of shear rate (or shear stress). 

Wall shear stress transducer mounted in a sliding plate rheometer. Shear between the sample and the wall causes die cantilever to deflect slighdy, which motion is detected by the capacitance probe. Adapted from Interlaken (1992). 

In a parallel plate rheometer, shear flow is generated in a layer of fluid (thickness d) sandwiched between parallel discs (Figure 8.11). The fluid is retained in the gap by surface tension. Shear is created by rotating one disc at an angular speed Q, while the other is maintained stationary by applying a torque T. In this case, it does not matter which of the two discs is rotated, and in some designs both discs are rotated in opposite directions. Fluid elasticity creates a normal force F that attempts to separate the plates. T, Q, and F are the experimental measurables in this flow configuration. 

High Shear Viscometer Extmsion Rheometer Rheograph 2002 Rheo Tester RTR... 

Another type of rotational viscometer is the hehcal-screw rheometer (176). This iastmment is basically a screw-type metering pump that does not pump. The measure of force is the pressure difference resulting from the rotational motion. It is possible to use a bank of pressure transducers of different sensitivities to measure viscosity over a wide range. The iastmment can be used for high temperature rheometry and to foUow polymerkation, shear and heat degradation, and other developments. 

Specific Commercial Rotational Viscometers. Information on selected commercial rotational viscometers can be found ia Table 7. The ATS RheoSystems Stresstech rheometer is an iastmment that combines controlled stress as well as controlled strain (shear rate) and oscillatory measurements. It has a torque range of 10 to 50 mN-m, an angular velocity range of 0 to 300 rad/s, and a frequency range of seven decades. Operation and temperature programming (—30 to 150°C higher temperatures optional) are computer controlled. 

The Weissenberg Rheogoniometer (49) is a complex dynamic viscometer that can measure elastic behavior as well as viscosity. It was the first rheometer designed to measure both shear and normal stresses and can be used for complete characteri2ation of viscoelastic materials. Its capabiUties include measurement of steady-state rotational shear within a viscosity range of 10 — mPa-s at shear rates of, of normal forces (elastic... 

A sliding plate rheometer (simple shear) can be used to study the response of polymeric Hquids to extension-like deformations involving larger strains and strain rates than can be employed in most uniaxial extensional measurements (56,200—204). The technique requires knowledge of both shear stress and the first normal stress difference, N- (7), but has considerable potential for characteri2ing extensional behavior under conditions closely related to those in industrial processes. 

Rheological Measurements of Bitumens Using Dynamic Shear Rheometers ... 

Chocolate does not behave as a tme Hquid owing to the presence of cocoa particles and the viscosity control of chocolate is quite compHcated. This non-Newtonian behavior has been described (28). When the square root of the rate of shear is plotted against the square root of shear stress for chocolate, a straight line is produced. With this Casson relationship method (29) two values are obtained, Casson viscosity and Casson yield value, which describe the flow of chocolate. The chocolate industry was slow in adopting the Casson relationship but this method now prevails over the simpler MacMichael viscometer. Instmments such as the Carri-Med Rheometer and the Brookfield and Haake Viscometers are now replacing the MacMichael. 

A slit die is designed on the assumption that the material is Newtonian, using apparent viscous properties derived from capillary rheometer measurements, at a particular wall shear stress, to calculate the volumetric flow rate through the slit for the same wall shear stress. Using the correction factors already derived, obtain an expression for the error involved in this procedure due to the melt being non-Newtonian. Also obtain an expression for the error in pressure drop calculated on the same basis. What is the magnitude of the error in each case for a typical power law index n = 0.377... 

Bingham-plastic slurries require a shear stress diagram showing shear rate vs. shear stress for the slurry in order to determine the coefficient of rigidity, T], which is the slope of the plot at a particular concentration. This is laboratory data requiring a rheometer. These are usually fine solids at high concentrations. 

The shear viscosity, especially as measured with capillary rheometers characterized by high shear rates, is hardly sensitive to material structure since the investigator usually has to deal with the substantially destroyed structure in the molten sample. Melt stretching experiments would normally provide much more information [33]. 

The shear modulus of a material can be determined by a static torsion test or by a dynamic test employing a torsional pendulum or an oscillatory rheometer. The maximum short-term shear stress (strength) of a material can also be determined from a punch shear test. 

Torsion property As noted, the shear modulus is usually obtained by using pendulum and oscillatory rheometer techniques. The torsional pendulum (ASTM D 2236 Dynamic Mechanical Properties of Plastics by Means of a Torsional Pendulum Test Procedure) is a popular test, since it is applicable to virtually all plastics and uses a simple specimen readily fabricated by all commercial processes or easily cut from fabricated products. 

A capillary rheometer is another type of instmment, in which the uncured mbber is extmded through a small orifice and the change in dimensions of the extmdate is measured with a laser [2]. This instmment generates high shear rates, compared to Mooney rheometer. The capillary rheometer can thus represent flow of compounds on mbber processing machinery, such as injection molds. 

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