MEASURING VISCOSITY

TABLE OF CONTENT

 OBJECTIVE
 THEORY
 DEFINITION
 CHARACTERIZATION OF FLUIDS
 EXPERIMENT
 MATERIAL
 PROCEDURE
 DISCUSSION
 ASSUMPTION
 SUMMARY
 OBJECTIVES

 To measure the viscosity of liquids by using

a Capillary Rheometer.
THEORY
 DEFINITION

 Viscosity is a basic fluid property which help

estimates the behaviors such as mass transfer
and heat transfer.
 The physical meaning of viscosity can be
understood as illustrated below:
 Viscosity can be considering as the flow
between two parallel plates
 If velocity is constant at lower plate, a velocity
profile is established in the fluid.
 Force is required to keep the plate in motion is
proportional to the velocity gradient in the fluid.
CHARACTERIZATION OF
FLUIDS

 In these fluids, the viscosity will not be a
constant but a function of the shear stress.
 The common device used for measuring
viscosity is the Capillary Rheometer.
 Gravity, compressed gas or a piston is used
to generate pressure on the test fluid in a
reservoir. A capillary tube of radius R and
length L is connected to the bottom of the
reservoir.
 Pressure drop and flow rate through this tube
are used to determine viscosity.
EXPERIMENT
 MATERIAL

 Capillary Rheometer
 Newtonian fluid

Figure 1, Capillary Rheometer

 PROCEDURE

1. Set the instrument to the desired test temperature.

2. After the instrument reach the test temperature, load
the sample under test into a bore in the temperature-
controlled barrel of the capillary rheometer and the
test is started.
3. Mount a capillary die of known dimensions (with
a 1.0-mm die and a die length of 20.0 mm) at the
bottom of the barrel bore.
4. Measurements die (with insulated head pressure
sensors, temperature sensor piston) to push the sample
through the capillary die.
5. Lower the piston until it touches the sample
and apply a maximum load of 0.200 kN.
6. The measuring steps proceeded after the
loading and movement of the piston with a
controlled velocity and shear rate. Once the
steady-state stress at a particular shear rate
was reached, collect a data point and apply
the next selected shear rate.
7. Repeat this step until all shear rates are
completed or the sample begins to exhibit
flow instability (melt fracture).

 DISCUSSION


Corrections to Capillary Flow
1) Entrance and exit effects - Bagley correction (correct the
pressure drop)
2) Slip at the wall – Mooney analysis (correct the flow rate)
Note : We do not do this correction
3) Non-parabolic velocity profile – Weissenberg Rabinowitsch
correction (correct the shear rate at the wall ; non- Newtonian
effects)

Bagley correction
 In capillary rheometry, the extra pressure drop can be
corrected by using the well-known Bagley correction.
 Entrance pressure drop may affect the accuracy of the
measurements unless a very long capillary is used
(L/D>100)
Run for different length
capillaries


 ASSUMPTION

 Fully developed, steady, laminar, isothermal

flow.
 Long tube (no z dependence).
 No slip at the wall of the capillary.
 Incompressible fluid, viscosity independent of
time and pressure.
 Radial and tangential velocity components are
zero and the pressure drop should be linear in
the capillary.
 For steady flow within a constant circular
section, it is relatively straightforward to derive
equations describing the velocity profile and
pressure drop from the fundamental constitutive
equations. By measuring the pressure drop DP
as a function of the fluid volumetric flow rate Q
it is possible to determine the fluid’s behavior in
terms of an apparent viscosity. The pressure
drop DP can be expressed in terms of the
volume flow rate Q, the capillary length L and
radius r0:
 SUMMARY