Effects of surfactant and salt concentrations on capillary flow and its entry flow for wormlike micelle solutions

Dynamic viscoelasticities and flow properties were measured for aqueous solutions of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium salicylate (NaSal) to examine the effects of surfactant (C _D) and salt (C _S). The relaxation time λ of a single mode Maxwell model was obtained, and the relationship between λ and free NaSal concentration was discussed. The relation between λ and was applied to the classification of flow curves, which were obtained using a capillary rheometer. In the flow curves, a shear rate jump occurred at low shear rates for the solutions with low , while bending was seen at high shear rates for all the flow curves. On the other hand, vortex growth at the salient corner in the entrance region of the capillary was also investigated. Four different flow patterns were identified: Newtonian-like flow (A), steady vortex flow (B), periodically oscillated flow (C), and perfectly unstable flow (D). In the steady vortex of the flow pattern B, the vortex length increased with increasing shear rate. In the flow patterns C and D, white turbidity was observed. Furthermore, the relation between λ and was also applied to the discussion on the development of the vortex.