Viscosity of suspensions in polymeric solutions

Viscosities of suspended particles in polymeric solutions depend upon dissolved polymer concentration, volume fraction of particles and shear rate. In this analysis of viscosity data, relative viscosity was defined as the ratio of suspension viscosity to solution viscosity at the same shear stress rather than shear rate. These relative viscosities reached asymptotic values at high shear stress for all concentrations of dissolved polymer and for all particle loadings. At a given particle loading, the asymptotic values of relative viscosity were nearly independent of the concentration of dissolved polymer. Realtive viscosities were correlated with volume fraction by the one-constant equation of Maron and Pierce.     

A model for the shear viscosity of non-colloidal suspensions with Newtonian matrix fluids

We present a model for the shear viscosity of non-colloidal suspensions with Newtonian matrix fluids. The model is based on the original idea first presented by Brinkman (Applied Sci Research A1:27-34. 1947) for the viscous force exerted by a flowing fluid on a dense swarm of spherical particles. In particular, we consider an inertialess suspension in which the mean flow is driven by a pressure difference, and simultaneously, the suspension is subject to simple shear. Assuming steady state, incompressibility and taking into account a resistance force which is generated due to the presence of the particles in the flow, the three-dimensional governing equations for the mean flow around a single spherical particle are solved analytically. Self-consistency of the model provides a relationship between the resistance parameter and the volume fraction of the solid phase. A volume, or an ensemble, averaging of the total stress gives the bulk properties and an expression for the relative (bulk) viscosity of the suspension. The viscosity expression reduces to the Einstein limit for dilute suspensions and agrees well with empirical formulas from the literature in the semi-dilute and concentrated regimes. Since the model is based on a single particle and its average interaction with the other particles is isotropic, no normal stress differences can be predicted. A possible method of addressing this problem is provided in the paper.     

Normal and tangential stress fluctuations during jamming

Under the application of high shear rates, concentrated suspensions of colloidal particles jam. The stress necessary to induce their flow abruptly increases and exhibits very large fluctuations. At the transition, the first normal stress difference increases and develops fluctuations. The sign of the first normal stress difference changes with the volume fraction of the suspension, which becomes dilatant at high volume fraction. I review an experimental study of this jamming transition and experimental evidence of the dilatancy of the suspension.     

A thermodynamic approach to the rheology of highly interactive filler-polymer mixtures. Part II. Comparison with polystyrene/nanosilica mixtures

The dynamic properties as a function of frequency and strain amplitude, steady-state viscosity as a function of shear rate, and transient shear stresses at startup and cessation of shear flow of polystyrene (PS)/fumed silica mixtures of various concentrations were investigated. An abrupt change in the viscoelastic properties was noticed at a concentration above 1% by volume. Observations by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicate the presence of a three-dimensional network through the bridging of filler particles by the adsorbed polymer. The viscoelastic behavior is simulated utilizing a theory proposed in Part I (Havet and Isayev 2001) based on a double network created by the entangled polymer matrix and the adsorbed polymer with filler concentration taken into account through the bridging density of polymer-filler interactions and a hydrodynamic reinforcement. The steps taken for determining the model parameters required to carry out the simulation are described. The major features of the rheological behavior of highly interactive polymer-filler mixtures are captured qualitatively and in some cases, quantitatively predicted.     

The rheology of suspensions of porous zeolite particles in polymer solutions

We present data and predictive models for the shear rheology of suspended zeolite particles in polymer solutions. It was found experimentally that suspensions of zeolite particles in polymer solutions have relative viscosities that dramatically exceed the Krieger–Dougherty predictions for hard sphere suspensions. Our investigations show that the major origin of this discrepancy is due to the selective absorption of solvent molecules from the suspending polymer solution into zeolite pores. The effect raises both the polymer concentration in the suspending medium and the particle volume fraction in the suspension. Consequently, both the viscosity of the polymer solution and the particle contribution to the suspension viscosity are increased. We propose a predictive model for the viscosity of porous zeolite suspensions by incorporating a solvent absorption parameter, α, into the Krieger–Dougherty model. We experimentally determined the solvent absorption parameter by comparing viscosity data for suspensions of porous and nonporous MFI zeolite particles. Our results are in good agreement with the theoretical pore volume of MFI particles.     

Investigation of the stability of a plane-channel suspension flow with account for finite particle volume fraction

Within the framework of the two-fluid approach, a variant of a heterogeneous-medium model which takes into account a finite volume fraction of the inclusions and a small but finite phase velocity slip is proposed. The interphase momentum exchange is described by the Stokes force with the Brinkman correction for the finite particle volume fraction. The suspension viscosity depends on the particle volume fraction in accordance with the Einstein formula. Within the framework of the model constructed, a formulation of the problem of linear stability of plane-parallel two-phase flows is proposed. As an example, the stability of a channel suspension flow is considered. The system of equations for small disturbances with the boundary conditions is reduced to an eigenvalue problem for a fourth-order ordinary differential equation. Using the orthogonalization method, the dependence of the critical Reynolds number on the governing nondimensional parameters of the problem is studied numerically. It is shown that taking a finite volume fraction of the inclusions into account significantly affects the laminar-turbulent transition limit.     

Investigating the transient response of a shear thickening fluid using the split Hopkinson pressure bar technique

The split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) technique is implemented to evaluate the transient response of a colloidal suspension exhibiting shear thickening at strain rates and timescales never before explored in a laboratory instrument. These suspensions are shown to exhibit a discontinuous transition from fluid-like (shear thinning) to solid-like (shear thickening) behavior when evaluated using rotational rheometry. The effect of loading rate on this transition time is studied for a particle volume fraction of 0.54 using the SHPB technique. It is shown that the time required for transition to occur decreases logarithmically with loading rate. From these results, we conclude that transition is not triggered by a characteristic shear rate, but rather a critical shear strain is required. Results from SHPB experiments performed up to Peclet numbers of order 10⁷ are presented and discussed for 0.50, 0.52, and 0.54 particle volume fraction suspensions.     

体积分数对基于沸石和硅油的悬浮液的电流变性能的影响

用 HAAKE RV2 0型流变仪 ,在不同外加电场强度和不同颗粒体积分数下测试了基于沸石和硅油的电流变液的剪切应力变化 .结果表明 :随着外加电场强度升高 ,电流变液的零电场粘度急剧增加 ,电流变液的剪切屈服应力增加 ;随着电流变液中沸石颗粒体积分数升高 ,电流变液的剪切屈服强度急剧上升 .这种变化可以用颗粒间作用力与颗粒间距的关系、单位面积的颗粒链数目变化以及多体作用对电流变液性能的影响来解释     

Rheological properties of suspensions of TiO2 particles in polymer solutions. 1. Shear viscosity

This paper presents results on the rheological behaviour of suspensions of two kinds of TiO₂ particles in two different polymer solutions. The particles differ in their hydrophilic or hydrophobic properties. The dispersing media are a solution of high molecular weight polyisobutylene in decalin and a solution of a low molecular weight polybutene in decalin. The concentrations of polymer are adjusted in order to get the same zero shear viscosity. The shear viscosity measurements display an apparent yield stress in some cases. The existence and the values of the yield stress depend on the volume fraction of solid particles and on the type of particles. The evolution of the intrinsic viscosity and of the maximum packing fraction vs the shear rate is interpreted in terms of evolution of the size and of the shape of aggregates of particles under shear. The effect of temperature on the development of the yield stress is also discussed. The results are completed by microscopic observations.     

New insights on fumed colloidal rheology—shear thickening and vorticity-aligned structures in flocculating dispersions

We investigate the rheology of dilute dispersions of fumed colloidal particles with attractive interactions in hydrocarbon liquids. Surprisingly, these systems display shear thickening due to the breakdown of densified flocs and a concomitant increase in the effective volume fraction of the fractal particles in the fluid. We show that this shear thickening is controlled by a critical stress and accompanied by a positive increase in the first normal stress difference, N ₁, at the shear thickening transition. This is in contrast to the well-known hydrocluster mechanism of shear thickening in concentrated hard-sphere and repulsive systems. Gel elasticity depends strongly on the stress applied to suspensions in preshear, scaling roughly as \(G'\sim\sigma_{\text{preshear}}^{2}\). We propose a simple model to account for these results in terms of the cluster number density determined by the preshear stress. At low shear rates, vorticity-aligned aggregates are present at \(\dot\gamma\approx 10^0 {\rm{s}}^{-1}\) . In this regime, the system displays a small but noticeable increase in viscosity on increasing shear rate. We investigate the effect of tool roughness and find that wall slip is not responsible for the observed phenomena. Instead, the increase in the apparent viscosity results from increased flow resistance due to the presence of gap-spanning log-like flocs in rolling flow.     

Influence of medium viscosity and adsorbed polymer on the reversible shear thickening transition in concentrated colloidal dispersions

The influence of medium viscosity on the onset of shear thickening of silica dispersions is investigated with two different methods. In the first method, the sample temperature is varied over a narrow range for two different suspensions. For the first suspension, the stress at the onset of shear thickening, or the critical stress, was found to be independent of sample viscosity, and the shear viscosity scaled with Peclet number, as expected. The critical stress for the second suspension was not independent of sample viscosity, and the Peclet number scaling was only moderately successful. The differences were attributed to changes in particle interactions with temperature. In the second method, the molecular weight of an oligomeric silicone oil medium is varied. In principle, this method should maintain constant chemical interactions as medium viscosity varies; however the polymer is found to adsorb onto the silica surface and delay shear thickening to higher stresses with increasing molecular weight. The critical stress for the highest molecular weight systems, which is highly dependent on particle loading, overlays with an effective volume fraction based on the hydrodynamic diameter of the polymer-stabilized colloids. The results of both methods suggest that if all other properties of the dispersion are held constant, critical stress is independent of medium viscosity.     

Normal stress effects in the gravity driven flow of granular materials

In this paper, we study the fully developed gravity-driven flow of granular materials between two inclined plates. We assume that the granular materials can be represented by a modified form of the second grade fluid where the viscosity depends on the shear rate and volume fraction and the normal stress coefficients depend on the volume fraction. We also propose a new isotropic (spherical) part of the stress tensor which can be related to the compactness of the (rigid) particles. This new term ensures that the rigid solid particles cannot be compacted beyond a point, namely when the volume fraction has reached the critical/maximum packing value. The numerical results indicate that the newly proposed stress tensor has obvious and physically meaningful effects on both the velocity and the volume fraction fields.     

Linear and non-linear nature of the flow of polypropylene filled with ferrite particles: from low to concentrated composites

The flow behavior of a filled suspension consisting of ferrite particles suspended in a polypropylene matrix with and without the addition of a commercial dispersant (Solplus DP310) was studied. The composites were filled with 10, 20, 30, and 40 vol.%. Both capillary and parallel disk rotational flows were employed. On the one hand, dynamic results confirm general trends found for highly concentrated systems. The higher is the filler level, the lower is the linear viscoelastic domain. When adding the dispersant agent, it was shown a larger linear viscoelastic domain, lower moduli values and thus, lower viscosity. Also, the critical strain, G′ and G′′ showed a power law dependency on the volume fraction. On the other hand, the capillary results showed no dependency of the flow properties on the die. Thus, no slip of the suspension at the wall was observed. Actually, this experimental finding elucidated that the significant decrease on viscosity produced by the addition of the dispersant agent at 40 vol.% is principally due to lubricant effects and not at all to slip contributions. The results also reveal three distinct flow regimes. Low, moderate, and high shear rates lead to different microstructure under flow.     

Computer simulation of the rheology of concentrated star polymer suspensions

We use particle-based computer simulations to study the rheology of suspensions of high-functionality star polymers with long entangled arms. Such particles have properties which are intermediate between those of soft colloidal particles and entangled polymer chains. In the simulations, each star polymer is coarse-grained to a single particle. In order to faithfully reproduce dynamical properties, it is very important to not only include time-averaged interactions (potentials of mean force) but to also account for transient interactions induced by entanglements between the arms of different star polymers. Using a model which has all these features, it is found that, for sufficiently high shear rates, the start-up shear stress displays an overshoot. With increasing concentration, the core interactions increasingly dominate the initial stress response, leading to a maximum in the stress overshoot at relatively low strain values (0.1 to 0.5). Transient forces start to dominate after this initial stage. In a simulated experiment in which the shear rate is suddenly stepped-down from a high to a lower value, the stress shows a clear undershoot, with the minimum stress again at a relatively low strain value (based on the new shear rate). Finally, it is shown that a stress plateau develops in the flow curve. This plateau is absent when the transient forces between the polymer stars are not taken into account.     

Linear and non-linear rheological behaviour of cement and silica suspensions. Effect of polymer addition

Oil well cement pastes and model silica suspensions demonstrate similar rheology: in oscillatory shear, beyond a critical stress, a sharp transition is ob- served between gel and liquid behaviour. In creep tests, an apparent yield stress and shear-thinning are followed by the appearance of shear thickening. The minimum viscosity measured in steady shear is close in value to the complex viscosity obtained from oscillatory measurements. The observations can be explained by the formation of liquid trapping aggregates whose compactness may be estimated by fitting the Tsenoglou model, and whose cohesion is reflected in the rigidity of the gel and in the critical strain (or stress) of gel dissolution. Substituting cement or silica particles by polymer redispersible powder causes a decrease of the storage modulus in the gel state and a lower viscosity, while leaving the general features of the flow curve unchanged. Decrease in material rigidity may be due to a weaker inter-particle attraction generated by the polymer presence. The decrease in viscosity is explained by a lessening of water entrapped within the aggregates, which now contain polymer particles which are less hydrophilic than either cement or silica.     

Numerical study of concentrated fluid–particle suspension flow in a wavy channel

The particle migration effects and fluid–particle interactions occurring in the flow of highly concentrated fluid–particle suspension in a spatially modulated channel have been investigated numerically using a finite volume method. The mathematical model is based on the momentum and continuity equations for the suspension flow and a constitutive equation accounting for the effects of shear‐induced particle migration in concentrated suspensions. The model couples a Newtonian stress/shear rate relationship with a shear‐induced migration model of the suspended particles in which the local effective viscosity is dependent on the local volume fraction of solids. The numerical procedure employs finite volume method and the formulation is based on diffuse‐flux model. Semi‐implicit method for pressure linked equations has been used to solve the resulting governing equations along with appropriate boundary conditions. The numerical results are validated with the analytical expressions for concentrated suspension flow in a plane channel. The results demonstrate strong particle migration towards the centre of the channel and an increasing blunting of velocity profiles with increase in initial particle concentration. In the case of a stenosed channel, the particle concentration is lowest at the site of maximum constriction, whereas a strong accumulation of particles is observed in the recirculation zone downstream of the stenosis. The numerical procedure applied to investigate the effects of concentrated suspension flow in a wavy passage shows that the solid particles migrate from regions of high shear rate to low shear rate with low velocities and this phenomenon is strongly influenced by Reynolds numbers and initial particle concentration. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Linear viscoelasticity of ZrO 2 nanoparticle dispersions with associative polymers

ZrO₂ nanoparticle dispersions containing associative polymers exhibit two relaxation modes: Maxwellian behavior at high frequency imparted by the associating polymers and a power law spectrum at low frequency generated by the particle dynamics. The timescales and volume fraction dependence of the dispersions reflect weak attractions between particles with adsorbed polymer layers dispersed in a percolated network of associative polymer. The Baxter stickiness parameter extracted from the high frequency viscosity data indicates strong attractions, whereas the high frequency modulus reveals three sources of elasticity: micelle–micelle associations in the solution, rigidity of the particles and adsorbed layer, and adsorbed layer–adsorbed layer interactions. The sol-gel transition of the dispersions occurs around 12–14% particle loading. Comparison with latex dispersions suggests a slower relaxation mode and greater rigidity with the ZrO₂ particles.     

One-step,in situ jamming point measurements by immobilization cell rheometry

Dense colloidal suspensions are processed in a wide variety of industries. Challenges for pumping suspensions and slurries at high concentrations include shear thickening and dilation, which can have deleterious consequences. These systems are shear sensitive close to the jamming point, meaning that a significant increase in high shear viscosity can be observed with just a few percent change in volume fractions. Therefore, accurate and rapid determination of the jamming point can greatly aid formulation. Typically, conventional rheometry identifies the jamming point by a time-consuming process, whereby multiple flow curves of suspensions of different volume fraction are measured and extrapolated to the volume fraction where the viscosity diverges. We present an alternative approach for rapid, one-step, experimental determination of the jamming point for aqueous suspensions. The procedure monitors the shear stress under constant shear stress or shear rate as the sample is dewatered using immobilization cell rheometry, until the viscosity diverges. The method is validated by comparing the results of this work with conventional rheometry for a model suspension. Then it is applied to examine the effect of grafting a short-chain polymer to particles, comprising an industrial suspension of silica-coated titania. Polymeric coating of the particles increases the jamming concentration and mitigates shear thickening, qualitatively consistent with predictions from simulations.

A new method is designed to extract the jamming point of a suspension. The procedure monitors the effective viscosity under prescribed shear conditions as the suspension is dewatered using immobilization cell rheometry. The geometry moves down to accommodate solvent evaporation, until the viscosity diverges, and the jamming point is reached.

     

Structure of the interface between magnetic and conventional fluids: Model of immiscible phases

The structure of the flat interface between a two-component magnetic suspension and a conventional nonmagnetizable fluid immiscible with it is investigated with account for the dependence of the free energy of the system on the magnetization gradients, the concentration of magnetic particles, and the bearing phase density. It is shown that at certain values of the problem parameters the volume concentration of magnetic particles strongly increases near the interface, that is, the particles are substantially adsorbed at this surface. The dependence of the surface tension tensor components on the magnetic field stress is determined.     

颗粒材料剪切流动状态转变的环剪试验研究

颗粒材料的剪切流动行为广泛地存在于滑坡、泥石流等自然灾害以及矿物原料传输、泵送等工业过程中.颗粒材料在不同体积分数、剪切速率和应力约束下会表现出不同的流动状态并发生相互转化.对颗粒材料在剪切流动过程中力学特性的研究有助于加深理解其发生不同流动状态的内在机理,为解决相应的颗粒材料问题提供理论依据.为此,本文研制了颗粒材料剪切流动的中型环剪仪,并对颗粒材料在不同法向约束应力和剪切速率下的剪切应力和体积膨胀率进行了测试.结果表明,剪切应力和体积膨胀率均随剪切速率的增大而增大,但增长速率在临界剪切速率处发生转变,使其随剪切速率的平方呈分段式线性增长.通过对颗粒材料在不同剪切速率和惯性数下有效摩擦系数变化趋势的分析,讨论了颗粒材料由慢速流向快速流转化的基本规律,以及在临界剪切速率处发生流动状态转化的内在条件.此外,通过对不同法向应力下临界剪切速率以及快速流动下运动规律的测试,发现临界剪切速率随法向应力的增加而减小,即法向应力可促进颗粒材料由慢速流向快速流的转化,但在快速流动状态下的有效摩擦系数对法向应力不敏感.以上对颗粒材料在不同剪切速率、法向应力下流动状态的环剪试验研究有助于揭示其发生不同流动状态转化的内在机理.