Non-Newtonian

Fluids

Types of Fluids
1) Newtonian Fluids
2) Non-Newtonian Fluids
Newtonian Fluids:
Those fluids which follow Newton law of viscosity.
when shear stress is plotted against shear rate at a
given temperature, the plot shows a straight line with
a constant slope that is independent of shear rate.
Fluid such as water, air, ethanol, and benzene are
Newtonian fluids.
Non-Newtonian fluids
Any fluids that do not obey the Newtonian relationship
between shear stress and shear rate are nonNewtonian. Aqueous solutions of high molecular
weight polymers or polymer melts, and suspensions of
fine particles are usually non-Newtonian.

Models of Non-Newtonian Fluids

The expressions shown here are used to
characterize the non-Newtonian behavior of fluids
under equilibrium, steady shear flow conditions.
models those having a direct and significant
implication for suspensions, gels and pastes have
been included here.
Grease ,ketchup,whippe
cream,blood,paint, andnail
polish
wet
sand
corn
flour

Non-Newtonian Fluids

blood

grease

toothpaste

cake batter

ketchup

polymer melt

Non-Newtonian Fluids

molten
metal

paint
whipped
cream

Power-law Model
One of the most widely used forms of the general nonNewtonian constitutive relation is a power-law model, which
can be described as

where Tau is shear stress, gama is shear rate, m and n are

power-law model constants. The constant, m , is a measure
of the consistency of the fluid: the higher the m is, the more
viscous the fluid is. n is a measure of the degree of nonNewtonian behavior: the greater the departure from the
unity, the more pronounced the non-Newtonian properties
of the fluid are.
One of the obvious disadvantages of the power-law model is
that it fails to describe the viscosity of many non-Newtonian
fluids in very low and very high shear rate regions.

Cross Model

As discussed in the previous section, the

power law model does not have the capability
of handling Newtonian regions of shearthinning fluids at very low and high shear
rates. In order to overcome this drawback of
the power-law model, Cross (1965) proposed
a model that can be described as

In above equation
0 and are the viscosities at very
low and high shear rates, respectively
m and n are the model constants.
At an intermediate shear rate, the
Cross model behaves like a power-law
model. However, unlike the power-law
model, the Cross model produces
Newtonian viscosities (0 and ) at
both very low and high shear rates.

Bingham Plastic Model

Many types of food stuffs exhibit a
yield stress and are said to show a
plastic or viscoplastic behavior. One
of the simplest viscoplastic models is
the Bingham plastic model, and it
can be expressed as follows

In above equation
y is a constant that is interpreted as yield
stress
m B is a model constant that is interpreted
as plastic viscosity.
Basically, the Bingham plastic model can
describe the viscosity characteristics of a
fluid with yield stress whose viscosity is
independent of shear rate. Therefore, the
Bingham plastic model does not have the
ability to handle the shear-thinning
characteristics of non-Newtonian fluids.

Casson Model
This model was originally introduced by
Casson (1959) for the prediction of the
flow behavior of pigment-oil suspensions.
The Casson model is based on a structure
model of the interactive behavior of solid
and liquid phases of a two-phase
suspension. The model describes the flow
of viscoplastic fluids that can be
mathematically described as follows

 where k is a Casson model constant.

The Casson model shows both yield
stress and shear-thinning nonNewtonian viscosity. For materials
such as blood and food products, it
provides better fit than the Bingham
plastic model

Herschel-Bulkley Model
The Herschel-Bulkley model extends
the simple power-law model to
include a yield stress as follows

Like the Casson model, it shows

both yield stress and shear-thinning
non-Newtonian viscosity, and is used
to describe the rheological behavior
of food products and biological
liquids [Ferguson and Kemblowski,
1991; Holdsworth, 1993]. In addition,
the Herschel-Bulkley model also
gives better fit for many biological
fluids and food products than both
power-law and Bingham plastic

Powell-Eyring Model

Derived from the theory of rate processes, this relation

is relevant primarily to molecular fluids, but can be used
in some cases to describe the viscous behavior of
polymer solutions and viscoelastic suspensions over a
wide range of shear rates. Here, is the infinite shear
viscosity 0 is the zero shear viscosity and the fitting
parameter represents a characteristic time of the
measured system. If 0 and are not known independently
from experiment, these quantities may be treated as
additional adjustable parameters.

Importance of Non-Newtonian Fluid

In Process industries we deal different types of nonnewtonian fluids so their properties helpful in
processes as
Liquids and semisolids are usually pumped during
processing, so in case of fluids if we now properties of
non-newtonian fluids we avoid problems like
caviation,bubbles etc.
If we know properties of different non-newtonain fluid
then we better tackle different non-nowtonian fluids
like
Food
suc
asbutter,
cheese,jam,ketchup,mayonnaise,soup,taffy,
andyogurt
Natural
substances
such
asmagma,lava,gums, andsynovial fluid Slurriessuch
as cement slurry and paper pulp,emulsionssuch as
mayonnaise, and some kinds ofdispersions.

 Viscosity plays a huge part in

pump and conveyance system
design.
Viscosity may be dependent on
moisture content, concentration,
composition
and
prior
treatments.