Perspectives on shear banding in complex fluids

In this review, I present an idiosyncratic view of the current state of shear banding in complex fluids. Particular attention is paid to some of the outstanding issues and questions facing the field, including the applicability of models that have “traditionally” been used to model experiments; future directions and challenges for experimentalists; and some of the issues surrounding vorticity banding, which has been discussed theoretically and whose experiments are fewer in number yet, in many ways, more varied in character.     

Rheology of shear thickening suspensions and the effects of wall slip in torsional flow

The rheological characterisation of concentrated shear thickening materials suspensions is challenging, as complicated and occasionally discontinuous rheograms are produced. Wall slip is often apparent and when combined with a shear thickening fluid the usual means of calculating rim shear stress in torsional flow is inaccurate due to a more complex flow field. As the flow is no longer “controlled”, a rheological model must be assumed and the wall boundary conditions are redefined to allow for slip. A technique is described where, by examining the angular velocity response in very low torque experiments, it is possible to indirectly measure the wall slip velocity. The suspension is then tested at higher applied torques and different rheometer gaps. The results are integrated numerically to produce shear stress and shear rate values. This enables the measurement of true suspension bulk flow properties and wall slip velocity, with simple rheological models describing the observed complex rheograms.     

Experimental study on the effects of shear induced structure in a drag-reducing surfactant solution flow

In this paper, The drag reduction characteristics of surfactant solutions have been experimentally studied, as well as, the shear viscosities of turbulent drag-reducing surfactant solution have been measured as a function of concentration, shear rate and temperature by using AG-G2 (TA Instruments, New Castle, USA) rheometer. In comparison the rheological property with the macroscopic behavior of the solutions in turbulent channel flow, a deeper insight into the mechanisms of drag-reducing surfactant solution has been obtained. For no shear induced structure of surfactant solutions they just show features shear thinning, but the drag reduction is very significant phenomenon. Surfactant solution of the shear induced structure is not a surfactant fluid drag reduction of the necessary elements.     

Slipping zone location in squeeze flow

In squeeze flow rheometry, the main problem is the boundary condition between the squeezed material and the plates. Therefore, the crucial assumption is to know the location and the shape of the sample part where wall slip may or may not occur. This question is investigated from experimental results. For this, squeeze flow experiments are carried out to visualize the flow pattern at the walls. Influence of boundary conditions is particularly studied using different plate surface condition. As a result, with wall slipping conditions, we propose a flow modelling divided into two zones: a circular central zone of the sample sticks on the plates and, beyond that zone, the sample slips at the plates with friction.     

The effect of slip in the flow of a branched PP melt: experiments and simulations

In this paper visualisation and direct velocity profile measurement experiments for a branched polypropylene melt in a 10:1 axisymmetric contraction demonstrate the onset of wall slip. Video processing of the flow shows the formation of vortices and their diminution with increasing flow rate. Numerical simulations using a multimode K-BKZ viscoelastic and a purely viscous (Cross) model—both of them incorporating a nonlinear slip law—were used to predict the flow kinematics and dynamics as well as to deduce the slip velocity function by performing fitting to the velocity profiles. It was found that the numerical predictions agree well with the experimental results for the velocity profiles, and vortex formation, growth and reduction. It is suggested that such experiments (visualisation of entrance flow and direct velocity profile measurement) can be useful in evaluating the validity of constitutive equations and slip laws in the flow of polymer melts through processing equipment.     

Time dependent flow in equimolar micellar solutions: transient behaviour of the shear stress and first normal stress difference in shear induced structures coupled with flow instabilities

Recently we studied time dependent structural changes that are coupled with flow instabilities (Fischer 1998; Wheeler 1998; Fischer 2000). Within a stability analysis, a classification scheme for the feedback circuit of coupled shear-induced structure and flow instabilities was derived by Schmitt et al. (1995) and applied to our samples. Here, inhomogeneous flow layers of different concentration and viscosity are generated by shear-induced diffusion (spinodal demixing) and, as consequence, one no longer observes a homogeneous solution but a type of shear banding that is seen here for the first time. In this paper we present the behaviour of the first normal stress difference observed in the critical shear-rate regime where transient shear-induced structure is coupled with flow instability. Similar to the oscillations of the shear stresses (strain-controlled rheometer) one observes oscillations in the first normal stress difference. This behaviour indicates that elastic structures are built up and destroyed while the shear-induced structures occur and that the induced phase is more elastic than the initial one. Oscillations of shear stress and first normal stress difference are in phase and indicate that both phenomena are caused by the same mechanism. Received: 30 June 1999/Accepted: 14 December 1999     

Experimental observation on the flow-induced assembly of Carbon nanotube suspensions to form helical bands

This paper describes optical observations on the way aggregates of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in an epoxy matrix can form unusual helical bands (HBs) that are aligned perpendicular to the shear flow. By applying specific flow conditions, HBs were formed from isotropic aggregates of CNTs suspended in an essentially Newtonian epoxy matrix. Both optical and matching rheological data are presented together with a schematic model of the way HBs are formed. It was discovered that the steady shear rheology of the CNT suspension did not substantially change during the observed micro-structure change. The HB structure may have relevance in terms of potential applications for CNTs. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Vortices and wall shear stresses in asymmetric and symmetric channels with sinusoidal wavy walls for pulsatile flow at low Reynolds numbers

Numerical simulation and flow visualization were performed to study the dynamical behavior of vortices generated in channels with two different geometries, i.e., a periodically converging–diverging channel and serpentine channel, both having sinusoidal wavy walls. This system for pulsatile flow is used to enhance heat and mass transfer in very viscous liquids. The numerical results predict well the dynamical behavior of vortices and agree with the flow visualizations. For both channels, the vortex expands in each furrow of the channel walls during the deceleration phase and shrinks during the acceleration phase, which leads to fluid exchange between the vortex and the mainstream. The time-averaged vortex strength and wall shear stresses increase, as the frequency of fluid oscillation increases under a fixed oscillatory fraction of the flow rate. However, above a certain value of the frequency, they reversely decrease due to viscous effects. This frequency for the serpentine channel is smaller than that for the converging–diverging channel. The channel geometries are found to have an important effect of the flow characteristics.     

The impact of non-DLVO forces on the onset of shear thickening of concentrated electrically stabilized suspensions

This paper exposes an extension of an activation model previously published by the authors. When particles arranged along the compression axis of a sheared suspension, they may overcome the electrostatic repulsion and form force chains associated with shear thickening. A percolation-based consideration allows an estimation of the impact of the force chains on a flowing suspension. It suggests that similar to mode coupling models, the suspension becomes unstable before the critical stress evaluated from the activation model is reached. The percolated force chains lead to discontinuous shear thickening. The model predictions are compared with results from two experimental studies on aqueous suspensions of inorganic oxides; in one of them, hydration repulsion and in the other hydrophobic attraction can be expected. It is shown that the incorporation of non-Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek forces greatly improve predictions of the shear thickening instability.     

Mechanical response of encapsulated shear thickening fluid

In this investigation,the hard-to-handle shear thickening fluid (STF) is successfully encapsulated for easy handling and re-processing in the application of promising impact resistant material.Double-walled macroscopic STF capsules are synthesized using a convenientprocess by instilling the diluted STF droplets into reaction solution.The obtained STF capsules show significant shear thickening response to dynamic impact in comparison to quasistatic compression in terms of 154 times higher absorbed nominal strain energy.This innovative method opens a new window to design and manufacture versatile impact resistant materials and structures.     

Time-dependent NMR-velocimetry of a colloidal glass

The time-dependent velocity profiles in a Couette geometry of a soft glass made of colloidal star polymers suspended in squalene is presented. A shear-banded structure, hinted at by conventional rheological methods, is unequivocally confirmed with the local shear-rate of the low shear-rate branch below the measurable threshold. The evolution of the extent of the ‘zero-shear-band’ band is tracked and found to follow a Gompertz-like growth. The effects of altering shear rate, waiting time and temperature on the Gompertz fit parameters are investigated and show, among other relations, that the growth rate of the zero-shear band is proportional to the inverse of the applied shear rate, the time taken to reach unit strain.     

Performance of a flapping foil flow energy harvester in shear flows

Through numerical simulations, we investigate the energy harvesting performance of a heaving/pitching foil in shear flow. With two-dimensional Navier–Stokes simulations, we examined the energy harvesting efficiencies of such a system in linear shear flows and compared the results with those in uniform flows. It is found that in low shear rates, the performance of the system in linear shear flow is slightly higher than that in uniform flow, whereas the energy harvesting efficiency is greatly diminished if the shear rate is sufficiently high (this effect is more pronounced in higher frequencies). This is attributed to the effects of linear shear on the vorticity generation and the synchronization between fluid forcing and foil motion – when a strong shear flow is introduced the lift force induced by the leading edge vortex that is in phase with the heaving motion of the foil is diminished. Furthermore, by studying the instability of the wake behind the foil, we confirm that the optimal performance of the foil in linear shear flows is associated with the same physical mechanism that controls the performance of the foil in uniform flows, i.e. the excitation of the most unstable modes in the wake when the oscillation frequency of the foil is close to the frequencies of these modes.     

Development characteristics of drag-reducing surfactant solution flow in a duct

Development characteristics of dilute cationic surfactant solution flow have been studied through the measurements of the time characteristics of surfactant solution by birefringence experiments and of the streamwise mean velocity profiles of surfactant solution duct flow by a laser Doppler velocimetry system. For both experiments, the concentration of cationic surfactant (oleylbishydroxymethylethylammonium chloride: Ethoquad O/12) was kept constant at 1000 ppm and the molar ratio of the counter ion of sodium salicylate to the surfactants was at 1.5. From the birefringence experiments, dilute surfactant solution shows very long retardation time corresponding to micellar shear induced structure formation. This causes very slow flow development of surfactant solution in a duct. Even at the end of the test section with the distance of 112 times of hydraulic diameter form the inlet, the flow is not fully developed but still has the developing boundary layer characteristics on the duct wall. From the time characteristics and the boundary layer development, it is concluded that the entry length of 1000 to 2000 times hydraulic diameter is required for fully developed surfactant solution flow.List of abbreviations and symbols A₁, A₂ Coefficients for time constant fitting [-] - B Breadth of the test duct [m] - C₁, C₂ Coefficients for time constant fitting [-] - D Pipe diameter [m] - D_H Hydraulic diameter [m] - g Impulse response function [Pa] - H Width of the test duct [m] - n Index of Bird-Carreau model [-] - Re Reynolds number (=U_mD_H/) - Re_D Pipe Reynolds number (=U_mD/) - Re_x Streamwise distance Reynolds number (=U₀x/) - T Absolute temperature [K] - t Time [s] - t_a Retardation time [s] - t_b Build-up time [s] - t_x Relaxation time [s] - t_x1, t_x2 Relaxation time for double time constant fitting [s] - t Time constant in Bird-Carreau model [s] - U Time mean velocity [m/s] - U_m Bulk mean velocity [m/s] - U_max Maximum velocity in a pipe [m/s] - U₀ Main flow velocity [m/s] - u Friction velocity [m/s] - x, y Coordinates [m] - Shear rate [s^–1] - Mean shear rate [s^–1] - n Birefringence [-] - 99% boundary layer thickness [m] - Solution viscosity [Pa·s] - _P, _S Surfactant and solvent viscosity [Pa·s] - ₀, Zero and infinite viscosity of Bird-Carreau model [Pa·s] - Characteristic time in Maxwell model [s] - Water kinematic viscosity [m²/s] - Density [kg/m³] - Solution shear stress [Pa] - _P, _S Surfactant and solvent shear stress [Pa] - Time in convolution [s]     

Rheology and birefringence of Fomblin YR at very high shear rates

The rheological and structural properties of perfluoropolyether (PFPE) lubricant films including viscosity, shear stress, and birefringence were measured at relatively low to extremely high shear rates using a rotational optical rheometer. The viscosity of various films with different thicknesses exhibit Newtonian behavior up to a shear rate 1 × 10⁴ s⁻¹, with a transition to shear-thinning behavior obvious at higher shear rates. Birefringence of these films was also measured for the first time, and these results indicate chain alignment with shear in the shear-thinning regime. The shear rate at which alignment occurs is similar to that of the onset of shear thinning. This correlation between chain alignment and shear thinning provides direct evidence that the ability of PFPEs to lubricate hard drives at high shear rates is a direct consequence of the ability of the applied shear field to align the molecules on a molecular level.     

In situ observations of unusual drop deformation and wobbling in simple shear flow

Deformation and wobbling of a liquid drop immersed in a liquid matrix were studied under mild shear conditions for various viscosity ratios. In situ visualization experiments were conducted on a homemade transparent Couette cell incorporated to the Paar Physica MCR500 shear rheometer. The effect of drop or matrix elasticity was examined and was found to play a major role in both deformation and wobbling processes. Experimental results were compared to Jackson and Tucker (J Rheol 47:659–682, 2003), Maffettone and Minale (J Non-Newton Fluid Mech 78:227–241, 1998) and Yu and Bousmina (J Rheol 47:1011–1039, 2003) ellipsoidal models. It was found that the agreement between the Newtonian models and the experimental results required an increase in the drop viscosity. Such increment in viscosity was found to scale with the first normal stress difference.     

Viscosity of a Newtonian fluid calculated from the deformation of droplets covered with a surfactant under a linear shear flow

The viscosity of small fluid droplets covered with a surfactant is determined using drop deformation techniques. This method, proposed by Hu and Lips, is here extended to the case of the presence of a surface-active adsorpted at the liquid–liquid interface, to consider more general scenarios. In these experiments, a droplet is sheared by another immiscible fluid of known viscosity, both Newtonian liquids. From the steady-state deformation and retraction mechanisms, the droplet viscosity is calculated using an equation derived from the theories of Taylor and Rallison. Although these theories were expressed for surfactant-free interfaces, they can be applied when a surfactant is present in the system if the sheared droplet reaches reliable steady-state deformations and the surfactant attains its equilibrium adsorption concentration. These determinations are compared to bulk viscosities measured in a rheometer for systems with different viscosity ratios and surfactant concentrations. Very good agreement between both determinations is found for drops more viscous than the continuous phase.     

On the stability of the shear flow of a viscoelastic fluid with slip along the fixed wall

In this paper we solve the time-dependent shear flow of an Oldroyd-B fluid with slip along the fixed wall. We use a non-linear slip model relating the shear stress to the velocity at the wall and exhibiting a maximum and a minimum. We assume that the material parameters in the slip equation are such that multiple steady-state solutions do not exist. The stability of the steady-state solutions is investigated by means of a one-dimensional linear stability analysis and by numerical calculations. The instability regimes are always within or coincide with the negative-slope regime of the slip equation. As expected, the numerical results show that the instability regimes are much broader than those predicted by the linear stability analysis. Under our assumptions for the slip equation, the Newtonian solutions are stable everywhere. The interval of instability grows as one moves from the Newtonian to the upper-convected Maxwell model. Perturbing an unstable steady-state solution leads to periodic solutions. The amplitude and the period of the oscillations increase with elasticity.     

Rheological characteristics of trimethylolethane hydrate slurry treated with drag-reducing surfactants

Rheological characteristics of trimethylolethane (TME) clathrate–hydrate slurry treated with drag-reducing surfactants were investigated. Friction coefficients and apparent viscosities were measured when the concentration of TME and its hydrate fraction treated with and without drag-reducing surfactants were changed in several steps. From the results, it is found that the surfactant addition causes effective drag reduction in a pipe flow when the hydrate fraction becomes high, while effective drag reduction disappears in the cases of low hydrate fraction. The results of viscosity measurements indicate that the TME molecules disturb the formation of shear-induced structures (SIS) causing drag reduction phenomena. To investigate this interaction between TME and surfactant micelles, the effect of TME concentration on viscosity and relaxation time of solutions was discussed. From this, it was found out that there exists a critical concentration of TME on the formation of SIS and that it becomes larger as shear rate increases. Thus, we conclude that this interaction between TME and micellar structures causes less drag reduction for the cases of low hydrate fraction, while the drag reduction appears in cases of high hydrate fraction because TME concentration in liquid phase becomes small.