Rheometer

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A rheometer is a laboratory device used to measure the way in which a
liquid, suspension or slurry ows in response to applied forces. It is used
for those uids which cannot be dened by a single value of viscosity
and therefore require more parameters to be set and measured than is
the case for a viscometer. It measures the rheology of the uid.
There are two distinctively dierent types of rheometers. Rheometers
that control the applied shear stress or shear strain are called rotational
or shear rheometers, whereas rheometers that apply extensional stress
or extensional strain are extensional rheometers. Rotational or shear
type rheometers are usually designed as either a native strain-controlled
instrument (control and apply a user-dened shear strain which can then
measure the resulting shear stress) or a native stress-controlled
instrument (control and apply a user-dened shear stress and measure
the resulting shear strain).
Contents
1 Meanings and origin
2 Types of shear rheometer
2.1 Pipe or Capillary
2.2 Rotational cylinder
2.3 Cone and plate
2.4 Linear Shear
3 Types of extensional rheometer
3.1 Commercially available extensional rheometers
3.1.1 Rheotens
3.1.2 CaBER
3.1.3 FiSER
3.1.4 Sentmanat
3.2 Other Types of Extensional Rheometers
3.2.1 Acoustic rheometer
3.2.2 Falling Plate
3.2.3 Capillary/Contraction Flow
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Meanings and origin
The word rheometer comes from the Greek, and means a device for
measuring ow. In the 19th century it was commonly used for devices to
measure electric current, until the word was supplanted by
galvanometer and ammeter. It was also used for the measurement of
ow of liquids, in medical practice (ow of blood) and in civil engineering
(ow of water). This latter use persisted to the second half of the 20th
century in some areas. Following the coining of the term rheology the
word came to be applied to instruments for measuring the character
rather than quantity of ow, and the other meanings are obsolete.
(Principal Source: Oxford English Dictionary) The principle and working of
rheometers is described in several excellent texts.
[1][2]
Types of shear rheometer
Pipe or Capillary
Liquid is forced through a tube of constant cross-section and precisely
known dimensions under conditions of laminar ow. Either the ow-rate
or the pressure drop are xed and the other measured. Knowing the
dimensions, the ow-rate can be converted into a value for the shear
rate and the pressure drop into a value for the shear stress. Varying the
pressure or ow allows a ow curve to be determined. When a relatively
small amount of uid is available for rheometric characterization, a
microuidic rheometer with embedded pressure sensors can be used to
measure pressure drop for a controlled ow rate.
[3][4]
For Newtonian uids, the pressure drop increases linearly with ow rate
and the measured viscosity does not depend upon applied deformation
rate or stress. On the other hand, since non-Newtonian uids or
complex uids can display shear thinning or shear thickening, the
pressure drop versus ow rate data must be analyzed using
Weissenberg-Rabinowitch-Mooney equation.
Rotational cylinder
The liquid is placed within the annulus of one cylinder inside another.
One of the cylinders is rotated at a set speed. This determines the shear
rate inside the annulus. The liquid tends to drag the other cylinder
round, and the force it exerts on that cylinder (torque) is measured,
which can be converted to a shear stress. One version of this is the Fann
V-G Viscometer, which runs at two speeds, (300 and 600 rpm) and
therefore only gives two points on the ow curve. This is sucient to
dene a Bingham plastic model which used to be widely used in the oil
industry for determining the ow character of drilling uids. In recent
years rheometers that spin at 600, 300, 200, 100, 6 & 3 RPM have been
used. This allows for more complex uids models such as Herschel-
Bulkley to be used. Some models allow the speed to be continuously
increased and decreased in a programmed fashion, which allows the
Rheometer with cylinder
measuring system (left) and
cone/plate measuring system
(right)
measurement of time-dependent
properties.
Cone and plate
The liquid is placed on horizontal plate
and a shallow cone placed into it. The
angle between the surface of the cone
and the plate is of the order of 1
degreei.e. it is a very shallow cone.
Typically the plate is rotated and the
force on the cone measured. A
well-known version of this instrument
is the Weissenberg Rheogoniometer,
in which the movement of the cone is
resisted by a thin piece of metal which twistsknown as a torsion bar.
The known response of the torsion bar and the degree of twist give the
shear stress, while the rotational speed and cone dimensions give the
shear rate. In principle the Weissenberg Rheogoniometer is an absolute
method of measurement providing it is accurately set up. Other
instruments operating on this principle may be easier to use but require
calibration with a known uid. Cone and plate rheometers can also be
operated in an oscillating mode to measure elastic properties, or in
combined rotational and oscillating modes.
Linear Shear
One example of a linear shear rheometer is the Goodyer Linear Skin
Rheometer, which is used to test cosmetic cream formulations, and for
medical research purposes to quantify the elastic properties of tissue.
The device works by attaching a linear probe to the surface of the tissue
under test, a controlled cyclical force is applied, and the resultant shear
force measured using a load cell. Displacement is measured using an
LVDT. Thus the basic stress/strain parameters are captured and
analysed to derive the Dynamic Spring Rate of the tissue under test.
Types of extensional rheometer
The development of extensional rheometers has proceeded more slowly
than shear rheometers, due to the challenges associated with generating
a homogeneous extensional ow. Firstly, interactions of the test uid or
melt with solid interfaces will result in a component of shear ow, which
will compromise the results. Secondly, the strain history of all the
material elements must be controlled and known. Thirdly, the strain
rates and strain levels must be high enough to stretch the polymeric
chains beyond their normal radius of gyration, requiring instrumentation
with a large range of deformation rates and a large travel distance.
Commercially available extensional rheometers have been segregated
according to their applicability to viscosity ranges. Materials with a
viscosity range from approximately 0.01 to 1 Pa.s. (most polymer
solutions)are best characterized with capillary breakup rheometers,
opposed jet devices, or contraction ow systems. Materials with a
viscosity range from approximately 1 to 1000 Pa.s. are used in lament
stretching rheometers. Materials with a high viscosity >1000 Pa.s., such
as polymer melts, are best characterized by constant-length devices.
[5]
Extensional rheometry is commonly performed on materials that are
subjected to a tensile deformation. This type of deformation can occur
during processing, such as injection molding, ber spinning, extrusion,
blow-molding, and coating ows. It can also occur during use, such as
decohesion of adhesives, pumping of hand soaps, and handling of liquid
food products.
A list of currently and previously marketed commercially available
extensional rheometers is shown in the table below.
Commercially available extensional rheometers
Instrument
Name
Viscosity
Range
[Pa.s]
Flow Type Manufacturer
Currently
Marketed
Rheotens >100
Fiber
spinning
Gottfert
CaBER 0.01-10
Capillary
breakup
ThermoFisher
Sentmanat
extensional
rheometer
>10000
Constant
length
Xpansion
Instruments
FiSER 1-1000
Filament
stretching
Cambridge
Polymer Group
Previously
Marketed
RFX 0.01-1
Opposed
Jet
Rheometric
Scientic
RME >10000
Constant
length
Rheometric
Scientic
MXR2 >10000
Constant
length
Magna Projects
Rheotens
The Rheotens is a ber spinning rheometer, suitable for polymeric melts.
The material is pumped from an upstream tube, and a set of wheels
FiSER lament stretching
extensional rheometer
elongates the strand. A force transducer mounted on one of the wheels
measures the resultant extensional force. Because of the pre-shear
induced as the uid is transported through the upstream tube, a true
extensional viscosity is dicult to obtain. However, the Rheotens is
useful to compare the extensional ow properties of a homologous set
of materials.
CaBER
The CaBER is a capillary breakup rheometer. A small quantity of material
is placed between plates, which are rapidly stretched to a xed level of
strain. The midpoint diameter is monitored as a function of time as the
uid lament necks and breaks up under the combined forces of surface
tension, gravity, and viscoelasticity. The extensional viscosity can be
extracted from the data as a function of strain and strain rate. This
system is useful for low viscosity uids, inks, paints, adhesives, and
biological uids.
FiSER
The FiSER is based on the works by Sridhar
et al. and Anna et al.
[6]
In this instrument, a
set of linear motors drive a uid lament
apart at an exponentially increasing velocity
while measuring force and diameter as a
function of time and position. By deforming
at an exponentially increasing rate, a
constant strain rate can be achieved in the
samples (barring endplate ow limitations).
This system can monitor the strain-
dependent extensional viscosity, as well as
stress decay following ow cessation. A
detailed presentation on the various uses of
lament stretching rheometry can be found
on the MIT web site.
[7]
Sentmanat
The Sentmanat extensional rheometer (SER) is actually a xture that can
be eld installed on shear rheometers. A lm of polymer is wound on
two rotating drums, which apply constant or variable strain rate
extensional deformation on the polymer lm. The stress is determined
from the torque exerted by the drums.
Other Types of Extensional Rheometers
Acoustic rheometer
Acoustic rheometers employ a piezo-electric crystal that can easily
launch a successive wave of extensions and contractions into the uid.
This non-contact method applies an oscillating extensional stress.
Acoustic rheometers measure the sound speed and attenuation of
ultrasound for a set of frequencies in the megahertz range. Sound speed
is a measure of system elasticity. It can be converted into uid
compressibility. Attenuation is a measure of viscous properties. It can be
converted into viscous longitudinal modulus. In the case of a Newtonian
liquid, attenuation yields information on the volume viscosity. This type
of rheometer works at much higher frequencies than others. It is
suitable for studying eects with much shorter relaxation times than any
other rheometer.
Falling Plate
A simpler version of the lament stretching rheometer, the falling plate
rheometer sandwiches liquid between two solid surfaces. The top plate
is xed, and bottom plate falls under the inuence of gravity, drawing
out a string of the liquid.
Capillary/Contraction Flow
Other systems involve liquid going through an orice, expanding from a
capillary, or sucked up from a surface into column by a vacuum.
See also
Food rheology
Piezometer
Rheometry
Acoustic rheometer
References
^ Macosko, Christopher W. (1994). Rheology: Principles, Measurements, and
Applications. Wiley-VCH. ISBN 0-471-18575-2.
1.
^ Ferry, JD (1980). Viscoelastic Properties of Polymers. Wiley.
ISBN 0-471-04894-1.
2.
^ Pipe, CJ; Majmudar, TS, McKinley, GH (2008). "High Shear-Rate
Viscometry". Rheologica Acta 47 (5-6): 621642.
doi:10.1007/s00397-008-0268-1 (http://dx.doi.org
/10.1007%2Fs00397-008-0268-1).
3.
^ Chevalier, J; Ayela, F. (2008). "Microuidic on chip viscometers". Rev. Sci.
Instrum. 79: 076102. Bibcode:2008RScI...79g6102C
(http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2008RScI...79g6102C).
doi:10.1063/1.2940219 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1063%2F1.2940219).
4.
^ Springer Handbook of Experimental Fluid Mechanics, Tropea, Foss, 5.
Yarin (eds), Chapter 9.1(2007)
^ Sridhar, J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech., vol 40, 271-280 (1991); Anna, J.
Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech., vol 87, 307-335 (1999)
6.
^ G. McKinley (http://web.mit.edu/nnf/presentation/sld001.htm) A decade
of lament stretching rheometry
7.
K. Walters (1975) Rheometry (Chapman & Hall) ISBN 0-412-12090-9
A.S.Dukhin and P.J.Goetz "Ultrasound for characterizing colloids",
Elsevier, (2002)
External links
[1] (http://www.atsrheosystems.com) - Research Rheometers,
Capillary Rheometers, Viscometers, Rheology Consulting and
Testing by ATS RheoSystems
[2] (http://www.malvern.com/rheology) - Rotational and Capillary
Rheometers from Malvern Instruments
[3] (http://www.anton-paar.com/001/en/60/47) - Physica
Rheometer from Anton Paar
[4] (http://www.brookeld.eu/products/rheometers/laboratory-
rs-cone-plate.asp) - Brookeld Rheometer
[5] (http://www.thermo.com/mc) - Thermo Fisher Scientic
[6] (http://www.rheosys.com) - Rheosys Merlin VR Rotational
Rheometer
[7] (http://www.rubber-testing.com) - MonTech Rubber Testing
Instruments, Germany
[8] (http://www.rheotec.de/en/?doc=products-index) -
Rheometer/Viscometer from RheoTec Messtechnik GmbH
[9] (http://www.tainstruments.com) - A R Series Rheometer from T
A instruments Inc
[10] (http://www.acoem-group.fr/solution-materiaux.php) -
Metravib DMA+ series from ACOEM
[11] (http://www.thermo.com/com/cda/product/detail
/1,,17848,00.html) - CaBER extensional rheometer
[12] (http://www.testsysteme.cz/_data_app_catalogue
/attachements/103_rheotens_e.pdf?PHPSESSID=10) - Rheotens
rheometer
[13] (http://www.xinst.com/results_rheology.htm) - Sentmanat
Rheometer
[14] (http://www.campoly.com/ser.html) - FiSER Extensional
Rheometers
[15] (http://www.zyworld.com/egoodyer/index.htm) - Goodyer
Linear Skin Rhometer
[16] (http://www.alpha-technologies.com) - Alpha Technologies
(formerly Monsanto Instruments and Equipment) - Akron, Ohio USA
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Categories: Fluid dynamics Measuring instruments
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