An innovative extensional viscometer for low-viscosity and low-elasticity liquids

A spinline-type extensional viscometer is described in which an innovative method of tensile stress measurement is employed. A limited amount of liquid flows through a vertical capillary at a constant flow rate under the influence of a constant pressure head. The drainage time decreases when the liquid stream leaving the capillary is stretched by the application of vacuum. These drainage times are measured in a manner similar to that used for intrinsic viscosity measurements. The measured difference in drainage times, with and without stretching, is trivially related to the extensional stress at the capillary exit, and this provides a very simple method of accurately determining fluid stretching forces having a magnitude as low as 10^-4 N; stresses at other axial locations in the stretched liquid jet are obtained by means of a force balance in the usual manner. The validity of the proposed technique is demonstrated by obtaining the expected results for a Newtonian oil having a shear viscosity of 56.2 mPa-s. Also presented are preliminary data on polyethylene oxide-in-water solutions having an even lower shear viscosity.