Lab #11: Rheology of Non-Newtonian Fluid

Name: Date: 11/29/12

Objectives: The objective of this lab is to analyze how fluids differ in properties like viscosity and how their behavior could be predicted by these properties. This will be done through the use of a viscometer, which has the ability to measure the shear stress, shear rate, and the viscosity for any fluid for further analysis. Background Information: Rheology is the study of the deformation and flow of matter, particularly, liquid matter with respect to viscosity, plasticity, and elasticity. Looking at viscosity, or, the friction of a fluid causing a resistance of flow, we are able to classify different fluids. One type of fluid is described as Newtonian in which there is a linear relationship between stress and strain and the graph passes through the origin. Fluids like water and oil are Newtonian meaning that at constant temperatures their viscosity constants change by very small amounts. Another type of fluid is known as non-Newtonian in which the viscosity changes in response to different shear rates. Fluids like ketchup and blood follow this behavior, although, they differ graphically because blood there are several types of non-Newtonian fluids. A pseudoplastic fluid has decreasing velocity as the shear rate increases while a dilatant fluid has increasing velocity as the shear rate increases. Plastic fluids behave like solids when under static conditions meaning that a yield stress must be applied before flow can begin. A viscometer is an instrument that measures the friction present in a fluid making it a powerful tool in Newtonian fluid analysis. To enhance the results from the system, there are many mathematical models that could be used to describe the fluids behavior. All of the models are variations of Newtons law of viscosity, which accurately describes Newtonian fluids, to describe non-Newtonian fluids. Such equations are listed below: Bingham: = 0 + Casson: + (1+a)

NCA/CMA Casson: (1+a) = 2 Power Law: = k

Herschel-Bulkley: = 0 + k Methods: The materials used for this experiment were a stock solution of Xanthan gum, water, three 5 mL tubes, a pipette, and a viscometer. To begin, 1 mL of water was placed in the

viscometer cup and attached to the machine. The motor for the system was turned on and, after checking to see if the spring deflection was between 10 and 90%, the shear stress, shear rate, and viscosity were measured and recorded. With the motor off, the RPM of the motor was changed to the next setting and measurements were made again. This was repeated one more time giving a total of 3 measurements for 3 different speeds. Next, samples of a xanthan gum/water mixture had to be prepared. The first sample consisted of 4mL of xanthan gum and 1 mL of water, the second had 3 mL of xanthan gum and 2 mL of water, and the third had 1 mL of xanthan gum and 4 mL of water. After mixing each solution thoroughly, 1 mL of the first sample was placed in the viscometer and the measurements were recorded in the same fashion as the water but at 4 different speeds. The second and third samples also had their measurements recorded in the same fashion but at 6 different speeds. From these measurements, analysis could be performed through graphical means. Results:
Water Water Water RPM 50 60 100 Visc 0.71 0.69 0.66 SS 2.64 3.06 5.04 SR 375 450 750 SqRt SS 1.624807681 1.749285568 2.244994432 SqRt cPSR 16.31716887 17.62101019 22.24859546

Gum/Water mixture 1:4mL 30 1:4mL 50 1:4mL 60 1:4mL 100 3:2mL 3:2mL 3:2mL 3:2mL 3:2mL 3:2mL 4:1mL 4:1mL 4:1mL 4:1mL 4:1mL 4:1mL 5 12 30 50 60 100 3 4 10 20 50 60

1.21 1.22 1.09 1.08 8.58 4.2 2.87 2.35 2.35 2.1 14.2 12.9 8.25 6.15 3.98 3.58

2.71 4.55 4.83 7.91 3.1 3.9 6.48 9.1 10.7 15.7 3.2 3.72 6.07 9.22 14.9 16.2

225 375 450 750 37.5 90 225 375 450 750 22.5 30 75 150 375 450

1.646207763 2.133072901 2.197726098 2.812472222 1.760681686 1.974841766 2.545584412 3.016620626 3.271085447 3.962322551 1.788854382 1.928730152 2.463736999 3.03644529 3.860051813 4.024922359

16.5 21.38924964 22.14723459 28.46049894 17.93739111 19.4422221 25.41161152 29.68585522 32.51922508 39.68626967 17.87456293 19.67231557 24.87468593 30.3726851 38.63288754 40.13726448

Table 1: Results from viscometer and the Herschel Bulkley data fit.

Shear Stress vs. Shear Rate

4.5 4 3.5 Sqrt(SS) 3 2.5 2 1.5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 Sqrt(cP*SR)
Figure 1: Square root of shear stress vs. shear rate.

Water R = 0.9998 Gum & Water (1:4) R = 0.9999 Gum & Water (3:2) R = 0.9996 Gum & Water (4:1) R = 0.9988

1:4 Gum to Water ratio

1.24 1.22 1.2 Viscosity (cP) 1.18 1.16 1.14 1.12 1.1 1.08 1.06 0 200 400 Shear Rate (sec-1)
Figure 2: Shear rate vs. viscosity for the 1:4mL mixture.

1:5 Gum to Water ratio

600

800

3:2 Gum to Water ratio

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 200 400 Shear Rate (sec-1)
Figure 3: Shear rate vs. viscosity for the 3:2mL mixture.

Viscosity (cP)

3:2 Gum to Water ratio

600

800

4:1 Gum to Water Ratio

16 14 12 Viscosity (cP) 10 8 6 4 2 0 0 100 200 300 400 500 Shear Rate (sec-1)
Figure 4: Shear rate vs. viscosity for the 4:1mL mixture.

4:1 Gum to Water Ratio y = 0.0001x2 - 0.0755x + 14.853 R = 0.9463

Concentration of Xanthan Gum Constants k 0 r2

0.2
0.08411 0.6998 -1.084 1

0.6
0.1379 0.7091 1.282 0.9985

0.8
0.5781 0.5424 0.1432 0.9986

Table 2: Constants used for the Herschel Bulkley fit calculated in Matlab.

Shear Stress vs. Shear Rate

18 Shear Stress (dynes/cm^2) 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 0 200 400 Shear Rate (sec^-1)
Figure 5: Shear stress vs. shear rate with a Herschel Bulkley fit and polynomial fit.

R = 0.9995 R = 0.999 Original 1:4mL HB Fit 1:4mL Original 3:2mL HB Fit 3:2mL Original 4:1mL R = 0.9919 HB Fit 4:1mL Poly. (Original 1:4mL) Poly. (Original 3:2mL) 600 800 Poly. (Original 4:1mL)

Questions: Do you observe the same viscosity at a given shear rate when increasing as you did when decreasing shear rates? No, the viscosities were not the same as the shear rate increased.

Do any of the plots show a yield stress? If so, derive an equation to predict the yield stress as a function of gum and water concentrations. If not, skip to the next question. The graphs in Figure 2-4 dont exhibit a yield stress.

Demonstrate whether the data supports the hypothesis that xanthan gum solutions are pseudoplastic. Looking at the Table 1, increasing viscosity is seen with decreasing shear rates meaning that a greater force is needed to create deformations. This all leads to the ultimate conclusion that it is a pseudo plastic.

Derive a polynomial equation describing viscosity as a function of shear rate over the range of values measured. As gathered from Figure 4, the equation would be: y = 0.0001x2 - 0.0755x + 14.853

Compare the polynomial equation goodness of fit (r2) with that given by fitting a HerschelBulkley equation to the data. Is there any physical meaning that can be given to the coefficients of a polynomial or the Herschel-Bulkley equation? If so, what are they? How could you systematically vary the material to obtain a coefficient you needed? How is the Herschel-Bulkley equation better or worse than a polynomial curve fit? The Herschel Bulkley equation seems to fit much better graphically but comparing the R2 values the polynomials fit better for the 3:2mL concentration and 4:1mL concentration as seen in Figure 5 and Table 2. The k represents the flow consistency index, the represents the flow behavior index, and 0 represents the stress needed to induce flow. Varying the concentration of the fluid to change the coefficients to desirable ones. It is a better fit because it follows the data more closely. There are some cases where the equation over shot the actual values but they were still very close.

Conclusions: The graph clearly indicated that water was a Newtonian fluid, as seen by its near linear relationship. The Xanthan gum, however, exhibited behavior of a non-Newtonian fluid and more specifically, a pseudo-plastic fluid. This conclusion was based mainly on the fact that as the shear rate increased, the viscosity decreased which is a major characteristic of a pseudo-plastic. If blood was used in this experiment, it too would be classified as a pseudo-plastic because the components in whole blood like hemoglobin and blood cells increase the resistance to flow.