Rotational Viscometer

Presented by:
Alekhya Vutukuri (166150)
Tanya Shrivastava (166245)
 What is a
Viscometer ?
Viscometer is a device which is used to measure
viscosity of the fluid. There are different types of
viscometers like vibrational viscometer, rotational
viscometer, bubble viscometer etc.
Viscometers only measure under one flow
condition but rheometers are special viscometers
that measure viscosities which vary with flow
conditions.
Rotational Viscometer:

There are two broad classifications of these rheometers:

1. The controlled shear rate instruments
2. The controlled stress instruments

Both these categories are provided with the following

geometries:
1. Concentric cylinders
2. Cone and plate
3. Parallel plate
Working of Rotational Viscometer:
a. Concentric cylinders:
The sample is contained in a narrow gap between two
concentric cylinders. Typically the outer ‘cup’ rotates and the
torque T on the inner cylinder, which is usually suspended
from a torsion wire or bar, is measured.

The determination of the shear stress and shear rate within the
shearing gap is thus valid only for very narrow gaps wherein
κ , the ratio of inner to outer cylinder radii, is 0.99.
‘ Mooney–Ewart ’ design features a conical
bottom with suitable choice of cone angle so
that the shear rate in the bottom matches
that in the narrow gap between the sides of
the cylinders to avoid end effects due to
shear flow.
For k > 0.99, Shear rate is calculated as:

For the commonly used power-law fluid

model, the shear rate is a function of the
power-law index. For instance, one such
approximate expression valid in the range
0.5 < k < 1:

n is the flow behaviour index and is given by the slope

of a plot of ln T versus lnΩ as (d lnT/d lnΩ).
For k < 0.5 and if the value of (d lnT/d lnΩ) is
constant over the range of interest (τR1 to τR2)

The ratio of the shear rates at r=R1,for a power-

law fluid and for a Newtonian fluid is given as

For a Newtonian fluid n=1 and ratio

becomes 1.
The torque T is acting on the fluid adhering to the outer surface of
the rotating cup is calculated by:

To minimize end effects, the lower end of the inner cylinder is a

truncated cone. The shear rate in this region is equal to that between
the cylinders if the cone angle,α is given by:

The main sources of error in the concentric cylinder type measuring

geometry arise from end effects (see above), wall slip, inertia and
secondary fl ows, viscous heating effects and eccentricities due to
misalignment of the geometry.
The dissipation of energy by these vortices leads to overestimation of
the torque. The stability criterion for a Newtonian fl uid in a narrow
gap is :
 The wide gap rotational
viscometer
Need of Wide Gap Viscometer:
1. Direct measurements of shear rates can only be made if the shear rate is
constant.
2. Non-Newtonian fluid systems, particularly those of industrial or commercial
interest such as pastes, suspensions or foods, may contain relatively large
particles or aggregates of particles.

Brookfield-type instrument, which assumes that the speed of rotation of the

cylinder or spindle is proportional to the shear rate experienced by the fluid.
The basic equation for the coaxial rotational viscometer will be,

f(τ)is the rate of shear at the same point.

Assuming the infinite cup boundary condition, τc (shear stress on the cup) in
the above equation becomes equal to zero and the expression may be
differentiated with respect to τb giving:
In a system which displays yield stress behaviour, no shearing takes
place where
τ is less than the yield value, τ0.
Thus the integral need only be evaluated from the bob to the critical
radius , the radius at which τ = τ0 . This gives

For systems which may be described in terms of a constant value

of yield stress,

exactly the same result is obtained as that derived for the case
of the infinite cup.
 Cone and plate geometry

Features:
• Small angle of cone, θ≈ 1-4⁰
Ω • Thin gap, h≈ 50-100 μm (fixed)
• Plate diameter≈ 25-50mm
• Truncated cone
ADVANTAGES:
• Small amount of sample
h
θ • Uniform shear rate throughout the
material
L
DISADVANTAGES:
• Desirable gap-to-max particle ratio>100
• Serious errors arising from eccentricities
and misalignment
 Figure 2.18 (a) Cone-and-plate and (b) parallel-pla
• Consider an element of fluid bounded by r=r and r=r+dr
• Torque acting on the element, dT= (2πrdr)Ꚍr Rotating cone
𝑇 𝑅
• Total torque, T= ‫׬‬0 𝑑𝑇 = ‫׬‬0 2πr2Ꚍdr
• For a constant Ꚍ,
• T= Figure 2.18 (a) Cone-and-plate and (b) parallel-plate (lower) geometries
2𝜋𝑅3𝜏
3
3𝑇 (a) Stationary plate (b)
• Shear stress, Ꚍ =
2𝜋𝑅3
Rotating cone Rotating cone
Figure 2.19 Schematics for the calculation of (a) sh

𝑟Ω−0 Ω
• Shear rate= = (independent of r)
𝑟 𝑡𝑎𝑛α 𝑡𝑎𝑛α

a
(a) Stationary plate (b) Stationary plate
With regard to the motion of the liquid, the following assumptions are made:
(1) the liquid is incompressible
(2) the motion of the liquid is laminar
(3) the motion is steady and 1-dimensional
(4) no body force acts on the liquid
(5) the motion has an axial symmetry
(6) each liquid particle moves on a circle on the horizontal plane perpendicular
to the axis of rotation
(7) there is no relative motion between the walls and the liquid in immediate
contact with the walls
(8)utter disregard of centrifugal forces

Violation of these assumptions will lead to secondary flows.

• Presence of secondary flows could be due to:
 Inertia (centrifugal forces)
 Normal stresses
 Machining defect
 Lack of alignment in geometry
 Local turbulence
• For highly volatile systems, the test sample may dry out at the edge of the
cone and this tendency can be minimized by applying a thin layer of a
silicone oil of comparable viscosity as that of the fluid being tested.
• In summary, the cone-and-plate geometry is suitable for low to medium
viscosity materials, especially when it is necessary to subject the whole
sample to a uniform shear rate such as in the characterization of shear
sensitive foodstuffs, personal care products, etc
 Parallel plate geometry

Ω
Features:
• L≈ 60mm, rotating plate diameter≈ 40mm
• shear strain α gap height(h)
• A feature which readily facilitates testing for wall (slip)
effects
h

L
ADVANTAGES:
•Can be used to overcome the limitations encountered using the cone-and-plate
geometry such as its sensitivity to eccentricities and misalignment
•Loading and unloading of samples can often prove easier, particularly in the case of
highly viscous liquids or ‘soft solids’ such as foods, gels, etc
•useful for obtaining apparent viscosity and normal stress data at high shear rates, the
latter being increased either by increasing Ω or by decreasing the shearing gap size
•Errors due to secondary flows, edge effects and shear heating may all be reduced
DISADVANTAGES:
•Shear rate is not constant in a parallel plate device. Usually the strain reported is that
measured at the outer rim, which provides a maximum value of the spatially varying
strain within the gap.
• The form factors for the parallel plate geometry, in terms of the shear stress and the
shear rate at r=R
• Shear stress:
𝑇 𝑑 𝑙𝑛𝑇
Ꚍ= 3+
2𝜋𝑅3 𝑑 𝑙𝑛Ω
• Shear rate:
Ω𝑅
γ=
ℎ
𝑑 ln 𝑇
• For a shear-thinning substance, the value of ( )<1 andtherefore even an
𝑑 ln Ω
uncertainty of 10% in its value will lead to an error of only 3% in the value of shear
stress.
• For Newtonian fluids, the slope will be equal to one and therefore, the shear stress is
2𝑇
given by: Ꚍ = 3 (apparent or nominal shear stress for non-Newtonian fluids)
𝜋𝑅
Moisture loss prevention : the vapour hood

• During prolonged experiments, moisture loss

may be minimized by employing a vapour hood
incorporating a solvent trap
• Edge effects become of particular importance
when dealing with samples which form a
surface ‘skin’ in contact with the atmosphere,
mainly due to evaporation
• Conditions at the outer edge of these
geometries strongly influence the measured
torque value
• Stresses in this region act on a larger area and
are operating at the greatest radius