Rheological models for gypsum plaster pastes

Shear stress and shear rate data obtained for gypsum plaster pastes were correlated by means of different rheological models. The pastes were prepared from a commercial calcium sulfate hemihydrate at various water/plaster ratios ranging from 100/150 to 100/190. The tests were performed at 25°C using a rotating coaxial cylinder viscosimeter. The measurements were accomplished by applying a step-wise decreasing shear rate sequence. Discrimination among the models was made: (1) on the basis of the fitting goodness; (2) by checking the physical meaning of the calculated parameters; (3) on the basis of the stability of the parameters and of their prediction capacity beyond the limits of the experimental data. In the light of above, the Casson model seemed to be most effective for application to gypsum plaster pastes. K Consistency - n Power-law index - N Number of experimental data - P Number of parameters - Shear rate (s^–1) - ₀ Viscosity (Pa · s) - _d Dispersing medium viscosity (Pa · s) - _p Plastic viscosity (Pa · s) - Viscosity at zero shear rate (Pa · s) - Viscosity at infinite shear rate (Pa · s) - ] Intrinsic viscosity - ² Variance - Shear stress (Pa) - ₀ Yield stress (Pa) - Solid volume fraction - _m Maximum solid volume fraction