Viscosity of Fluids

By Muhammad Usman
(08-chem-02-B)
12-10-2009
 History
• Word “Viscosity” is derived from a
Latin word “Viscum” for mistletoe
(Hemi-parasitic plants).
• A viscous glue was made from
mistletoe berries and used for lime-
twigs to catch birds.
 Viscosity (General Term)
• Generally viscosity is known as
thickness of fluids.
• Example:

Compound General Viscosity
 observation
water Thin Low viscosity

Honey Thick High viscosity

 VISCOSITY
•
 All fluids offer resistance to any
force tending to cause one layer to
move over another.
 Viscosity is the fluid property
responsible for this resistance. Since
relative motion between layers
requires the application of shearing
forces, that is, forces parallel to the
surfaces over which they act, the
resisting forces must be in exactly
the opposite direction to the applied
shear forces and so they too are
 η- Apparent Viscosity
T h e sh e a r ra te d e p e n d e n ce o f η
ca te g o rize s n o n -N e w to n ia n flu id s in to
se ve ra ltyp e s.
Po w e r La w Flu id s:
ØPse u d o p la stic : – η ( viscosity) decreases as shear
ra te in cre a se s ( sh e a r ra te th in n in g )
ØD ila ta n ts : – η( viscosity) increases as shear rate
in cre a se s ( sh e a r ra te th icke n in g )
ØB in g h a m P la stics:
η depends on a criticalshear stress ( τ 0) and then
b e co m e s co n sta n t
Viscosity (resistance to flow)

Shear
stress
γ =
Pete 314 6
 Units of viscosity
• The viscosity is the slope of the line of shear stress versus
shear rate so its SI unit is 1 Pa / (1/s) = 1 Pa · s
• The customary unit of viscosity is the poise , however it is
too large a unit for most common fluids.
• By sheer coincidence the viscosity of pure water at about is
0.01 poise; for that reason the common unit of viscosity
in the US is the centipoise.
g
•1 cP = 0.01
cm ⋅ s kg
1 cP = 0.001 Pa ⋅ s 1 Pa ⋅ s = 1 ( = 1000 cP )
m ⋅s
lbm
1 cP = 6.72 × 10 -4

ft ⋅ s
Pete 314 7
 Coefficients of viscosity
1.Dynamic viscosity (Absolute
viscosity)
2.Volume viscosity (Bulk viscosity)
3.Shear viscosity
4.Extensional viscosity
5.Kinematic viscosity
 Coefficients of viscosity
• Dynamic viscosity (Absolute
viscosity):
 Determines the dynamics of an incompressible
Newtonian fluid
• Volume viscosity (Bulk viscosity):
 Determines the dynamics of a compressible
Newtonian fluid
• Shear viscosity:
 Is the viscosity coefficient when the applied stress
is a shear stress (valid for non-Newtonian fluids)
• Extensional viscosity:
 Is the viscosity coefficient when the applied stress
 Kinematic viscosity
• Dynamic viscosity divided by the
density for a Newtonian fluid
 Eddy viscosity
• As we know that shear stress (τ) for a
laminar flow is
•
•
• Where µ is the absolute viscosity.
•
•
• Ev is analogous to absolute viscosity
(µ), called Eddy Viscosity
 Eddy diffusivity
• As we know that kinematic
viscosity is
•
•
• similarly Eddy Diffusivity is
•
•
• Eddy Diffusivity is analogous to
kinematic viscosity
 Total shear stress
• Total shear stress in a turbulent
flow is the sum of viscous stress &
turbulent stress.
•
•
• Similarly
 Viscosity
Liquids
 Gases


• Viscosities of liquids • Viscosities of gases

are very much are very much lower
greater than gases. than liquids (due to far
spaces between molecules)
• Viscosity decrease
with temperature • Viscosity increase with
increase. e.g. temperature
viscosity of water increase
falls from 1.79cp (at approximately
0°C) to 028cp (at according to
100°C) equation
 Viscosity
Liquids
 Gases


• Viscosity increase with • Viscosity of gas is

great increase in almost independent
pressure. of pressure in the
regions where gas
• laws are applicable
• At high pressure,
viscosity increase
with pressure,
especially near
critical point
 Fluid
• A fluid is a substance that does not
permanently resist distortion.
• Study of viscosity is called
Rheology.
• Types of Fluid:
• Whenever a shear force is applied
onto a fluid its velocity gradient has
a relationship with it involving a
constant quantity called viscosity in
it. Whenever their behavior is
studied on this basis, they are
 Types of Fluids
1.Newtonian:
 Whenever for these fluids a shear
stress is plotted vs. rate of shear at
constant temperature & pressure, a
straight line is obtained passing
through origin. These fluids always
follow this linear curve.
Example:

 Gases & most liquids are

Newtonian.
 Newtonian fluids
• Shear stress is related to shear rate by this
relationship
•
•
• here shows the shear stress arising
from viscous or laminar flow.
• is the symbol of viscosity here that is a
constant no. in case of Newtonian
fluids.
Newtonian vs. non-Newtonian rheology
τ = f (σ )

Pete 314 20
 Non- Newtonian Fluids
• A non- Newtonian fluid is one in
which the viscosity is a function
some mechanical variable like
shear stress or time.
• Non- Newtonian fluids that change
over time are said to have a
memory.
• There are different types of non-
Newtonian fluids based upon the
variation from linear behavior. They
 Shear thinning fluids
• Shear-thinning fluids can be classified into
one of three general groups.
• A material that has a viscosity that decreases
under shear stress but stays constant
over time is said to be Pseudoplastic.
• A material that has a viscosity that decreases
under shear stress and then continues to
decrease with time is said to be
thixotropic.
• If the transition from high viscosity (or nearly
semisolid) to low viscosity (or essentially
liquid) takes place only after the shear
stress exceeds some minimum value, the
material is said to be a Bingham plastic.
•
Pete 314 24
 B in g h a m
P la stics
B in g h a m p la stics
exh ib it N e w to n ia n
b e h a vio r a fte r th e
sh e a r stre ss exce e d s
τ o. For flow in
circu la r co n d u its
B in g h a m p la stics
b e h a ve in an
in te re stin g fa sh io n .
Examples of shear thinning
fluids
• House paint is a shear-thinning
fluid.
• Brushing, rolling, or spraying are
means of temporarily applying
shear stress. This reduces the
paint's viscosity to the point where
it can now flow out of the
applicator and onto the wall or
ceiling. Once this shear stress is
removed the paint returns to its
resting viscosity, which is so large
that an appropriately thin layer
 Examples of shear thinning
fluids
• Toothpaste is another example of a
material whose viscosity decreases
under stress. Toothpaste behaves like
a solid while it sits at rest inside the
tube. It will not flow out spontaneously
when the cap is removed, but it will
flow out when you put the squeeze on
it. Now it ceases to behave like a solid
and starts to act like a very thick liquid.
when it lands on your toothbrush, the
stress is released and the toothpaste
returns to a solid (or at least a
semisolid) state. You do not have to
worry about it flowing off the brush as you
 Shear thickening fluid
• Materials that thicken when worked or
agitated are called shear-thickening fluids.
• An example is a paste made of cornstarch and
water (mixed in the correct proportions). The
resulting bizarre goo behaves like a liquid
when squeezed slowly and an elastic solid
when squeezed rapidly. Ambitious science
demonstrators have filled tanks with the stuff
and then run across it. As long as they move
quickly the surface acts like a block of solid
rubber, but the instant they stop moving
the paste behaves like a liquid and the
demonstrator winds up taking a cornstarch
bath.
• The shear-thickening behavior makes it a difficult
bath to get out of. The harder you work to get
out, the harder the material pulls back on you.
 Shear thickening fluid
• They're ideal candidates for body
armor and protective sports
padding.
• A bulletproof vest or a kneepad
made of shear-thickening material
would be supple and yielding to the
mild stresses of ordinary body
motions, but would turn rock
hard in response to the
traumatic stress imposed by a
 Types
• Shear-thickening fluids are also divided into
two groups.
• Those with
• a time-dependent viscosity (memory
materials) and
• those with a time-independent viscosity
(non-memory materials).
• Rheopectic:
• If the increase in viscosity increases over
time, the material is said to be rheopectic.
• Dilatants:
• If the increase is roughly directly
proportional to the shear stress and does
not change over time, the material is said
Bibliography


• Nevers, d. fluid mechanics for chemical

engineers. mcGrawhill.
• physics hypertext. (n.d.). Retrieved
from http://physics.info/viscosity/
• warren l. Mccabe, j. c. unit operations of
chemical engineering. mcGraw - hill.
• wikipedia: the free encyclopedia. (n.d.).
Retrieved from www.wikipedia.org:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscosity
•