Shear-dependent fluid

When the apparent viscosity is a function of the shear rate, the behaviour is said to he shear-dependenf, when it is a function of the duration of shearing at a particular rate, it is referred to as time-dependent. Any shear-dependent fluid must to some extent be time-dependent because, if the shear rate is suddenly changed, the apparent viscosity does not alter instantaneously, but gradually moves towards its new value. In many eases, however, the time-scale for the flow process may be sufficiently long for the effects of time-dependence to be negligible. 

Even the measurement of the steady-state characteristics of shear-dependent fluids is more complex than the determination of viscosities for Newtonian fluids. In simple geometries, such as capillary tubes, the shear stress and shear rate vary over the cross-section and consequently, at a given operating condition, the apparent viscosity will vary with location. Rheological measurements are therefore usually made with instraments in which the sample to be sheared is subjected to the same rate of shear throughout its whole mass. This condition is achieved in concentric cylinder geometry (Fi re 3.37) where the fluid is sheared in the annular space between a fixed and a rotating cylinder if the gap is small compared with the dimneters of the cylinders, the shear rate is approximately... 

The class of non-Newtonian fluids discussed above (i.e. fluids showing a shear-dependent viscosity) is simply one subset of the types of behaviour observed in polymeric fluids. The shear-dependent fluids considered above are assumed to be inelastic, although some polymer solutions show some degree of elasticity. When elastic materials are deformed through a small displacement they tend to return to their original configuration. If a shear stress is applied to an ideal solid, then for small displacements the displacement, which is the strain, y, is proportional to the applied stress and Hooke s... 

The viscosity t] is constant for Newtonian fluids and is a function of the shear rate f for shear-dependent fluids with... 

We start with the governing equations of the Stokes flow of incompressible Newtonian fluids. Using an axisymraetric (r, z) coordinate system the components of the equation of motion are hence obtained by substituting the shear-dependent viscosity in Equations (4.11) with a constant viscosity p, as... 

Eig. 3. Shear dependence of Newtonian versus non-Newtonian fluids (13). 

Purely viscous fluids are further classified into time-independent and time-dependent fluids. For time-independent fluids, the shear stress depends only on the instantaneous shear rate. The shear stress for time-dependent fluids depends on the past history of the rate of deformation, as a result of structure or orientation buildup or breakdown during deformation. 

Time-dependent fluids are those for which structural rearrangements occur during deformation at a rate too slow to maintain equilibrium configurations. As a result, shear stress changes with duration of shear. Thixotropic fluids, such as mayonnaise, clay suspensions used as drilling muds, and some paints and inks, show decreasing shear stress with time at constant shear rate. A detailed description of thixotropic behavior and a list of thixotropic systems is found in Bauer and Colhns (ibid.). 

Figure 3.34. Effect of sudden change of shear rate on apparent viscosity of time-dependent fluid...

The typical viscous behavior for many non-Newtonian fluids (e.g., polymeric fluids, flocculated suspensions, colloids, foams, gels) is illustrated by the curves labeled structural in Figs. 3-5 and 3-6. These fluids exhibit Newtonian behavior at very low and very high shear rates, with shear thinning or pseudoplastic behavior at intermediate shear rates. In some materials this can be attributed to a reversible structure or network that forms in the rest or equilibrium state. When the material is sheared, the structure breaks down, resulting in a shear-dependent (shear thinning) behavior. Some real examples of this type of behavior are shown in Fig. 3-7. These show that structural viscosity behavior is exhibited by fluids as diverse as polymer solutions, blood, latex emulsions, and mud (sediment). Equations (i.e., models) that represent this type of behavior are described below. 

From equation 3.59, it is readily seen that in a shear-thinning fluid (n < 1) the terminal velocity is more strongly dependent on d, g and ps — p than in a Newtonian fluid and a small change in any of these variables produces a larger change in no. 

The calculation method and equations presented in the previous sections are for Newtonian fluids such that the flow due to screw rotation and the downstream pressure gradient can be solved independently, that is, via the principle of superposition. Since most resins are highly non-Newtonian, the rotational flow and pressure-driven flow in principle cannot be separated using superposition. That is, the shear dependency of the viscosity couples the equations such that they cannot be solved independently. Potente [50] states that the flows and pressure gradients should only be calculated using three-dimensional (3-D) numerical methods because of the limitations of the Newtonian model. 

Fluids with shear stresses that at any point depend on the shear rates only and are independent of time. These include (a) what are known as Bingham plastics, materials that require a minimum amount of stress known as yield stress before deformation, (b) pseudoplastic (or shear-thinning) fluids, namely, those in which the shear stress decreases with the shear rate (these are usually described by power-law expressions for the shear stress i.e., the rate of strain on the right-hand-side of Equation (1) is raised to a suitable power), and (c) dilatant (or shear-thickening) fluids, in which the stress increases with the shear rate (see Fig. 4.2). 

Figure 6.2. Relations between shear stress, deformation rate, and viscosity of several classes of fluids, (a) Distribution of velocities of a fluid between two layers of areas A which are moving relatively to each other at a distance x wider influence of a force F. In the simplest case, F/A = fi(du/dx) with ju constant, (b) Linear plot of shear stress against deformation, (c) Logarithmic plot of shear stress against deformation rate, (d) Viscosity as a function of shear stress, (e) Time-dependent viscosity behavior of a rheopectic fluid (thixotropic behavior is shown by the dashed line). (1) Hysteresis loops of time-dependent fluids (arrows show the chronology of imposed shear stress).

Chapter HI relates to measurement of flow properties of foods that are primarily fluid in nature, unithi.i surveys the nature of viscosity and its relationship to foods. An overview of the various flow behaviors found in different fluid foods is presented. The concept of non-Newtonian foods is developed, along with methods for measurement of the complete flow curve. The quantitative or fundamental measurement of apparent shear viscosity of fluid foods with rotational viscometers or rheometers is described, unithi.2 describes two protocols for the measurement of non-Newtonian fluids. The first is for time-independent fluids, and the second is for time-dependent fluids. Both protocols use rotational rheometers, unit hi.3 describes a protocol for simple Newtonian fluids, which include aqueous solutions or oils. As rotational rheometers are new and expensive, many evaluations of fluid foods have been made with empirical methods. Such methods yield data that are not fundamental but are useful in comparing variations in consistency or texture of a food product, unit hi.4 describes a popular empirical method, the Bostwick Consistometer, which has been used to measure the consistency of tomato paste. It is a well-known method in the food industry and has also been used to evaluate other fruit pastes and juices as well. 

Summarizing, the model of the screw channel flow is governed by eqns. (8.99), (8.105) and (8.106) with boundary conditions eqns. (8.100), (8.101) and (8.104). The constitutive equation that was used by Griffith is a temperature dependent shear thinning fluid described by... 

Distributed Parameter Models Both non-Newtonian and shear-thinning properties of polymeric melts in particular, as well as the nonisothermal nature of the flow, significantly affect the melt extmsion process. Moreover, the non-Newtonian and nonisothermal effects interact and reinforce each other. We analyzed the non-Newtonian effect in the simple case of unidirectional parallel plate flow in Example 3.6 where Fig.E 3.6c plots flow rate versus the pressure gradient, illustrating the effect of the shear-dependent viscosity on flow rate using a Power Law model fluid. These curves are equivalent to screw characteristic curves with the cross-channel flow neglected. The Newtonian straight lines are replaced with S-shaped curves. 

Next, we explore some nonisothermal effects on of a shear-thinning temperature-dependent fluid in parallel plate flow and screw channels. The following example explores simple temperature dependent drag flow. 

In the case of fluids without yield stress, viscous and viscoelastic fluids can be distinguished. The properties of viscoelastic fluids lie between those of elastic solids and those of Newtonian fluids. There are some viscous fluids whose viscosity does not change in relation to the stress (Newtonian fluids) and some whose shear viscosity T] depends on the shear rate y (non-Newtonian fluids). If the viscosity increases when a deformation is imposed, we define the material as a shear-thickening (dilatant) fluid. If viscosity decreases, we define it as a shear-thinning fluid. 

Due to the increasing importance of biotechnology, which employs non-Newtonian fluids by far more frequently than chemical industry does, variable physical properties (e.g. temperature dependence, shear-dependence of viscosity) are treated in detail. It must be kept in mind that in scaling up such processes, apart from the geometrical and process-related similarity, the material similarity also has to be considered. 

The major characteristic of a polymeric reactor that is different from most other types of reactors discussed earlier is the viscous and often non-Newtonian behavior of the fluid. Shear-dependent rheological properties cause difficulties in the estimation of the design parameters, particularly when the viscosity is also time-dependent. While significant literature on the design parameters for a mechanically agitated vessel containing power-law fluid is available, similar information for viscoelastic fluid is lacking. 

Figure 8-22 Rate of Shear Dependence of the Viscosity of Two Newtonian Fluids. Source From R Sherman, Structure and Textural Properties of Foods, in Texture Measurement of Foods, A. Kramer and A.S. Szczesniak, eds., 1973, D. Reidel Publishing Co.

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