Time-Dependent and Shear-Dependent Transient Viscosity of an Alumina Suspension

The transient viscosity of a well-dispersed Alumina–polyvinyl butyral tape-casting slurry have been investigated at the shear domain of 1–8 s^?1 with the help of a conventional Couette device. The slurry under these shear rates shows a combination of shear dependence and time dependence based upon the applied shear. Attempts have been made to explain the diverse rheological behavior of the slurry. Many studies involving powder loading, milling time, extended shear up ramp, extended shear down ramp, time- and shear-dependent viscosities of the supernatant, and continual shearing have been conducted to explore the probable reasons behind such diverse behavior of the slurry. The findings of these studies strongly suggest that at the shear rates, shear-induced hydrodynamic diffusion plays a major role in dictating the time-dependent viscosity profile of the suspension. Further analysis of the results points out that the observed viscosity profiles are the resultant of the two major competitive processes of shear-induced hydrodynamic disffusion and shear rejuvenation. The results obtained in the present investigation also strongly indicate that the time-dependent behavior of the suspensions under shear opens up an alternative route of characterization of well-dispersed ceramics suspensions.