Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS

Capillary Rheometer
The capillary rheometer (or
viscometer) is the most
common device for measuring
viscosity. 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
Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS
Capillary Rheometer Analysis
The flow situation inside the capillary rheometer die is essentially
identical to the problem of pressure driven flow inside a tube (Poiseuille
flow).
We can record force on
piston, F (or the pressure
drop P), and volumetric
flow rate, Q
Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS
Capillary Rheometer Analysis
Hagen-Poiseuille law for pressure driven flow of Newtonian
fluids inside a tube:
4
R
Q 8
L P

=
Shear stress profile inside the tube:
|

\
|

=
L
P
2
r

At the wall (r=R):
|

\
|

=
L
P
2
R

W
Velocity profile inside the tube:
(
(

\
|

=
2
2
R
r
1
L 4
R P
) r ( u
Recall from Fluid Mechanics
(1)
Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS
Capillary Rheometer Analysis
apparent
3
R
Q 4
R
L 2
P
dr
du
=

= =

Shear rate:
True shear rate for
Newtonian fluids but
Apparent shear rate (
app
)
for non-Newtonian fluids
For non-Newtonian fluids if we use the apparent shear rate then we
can only calculate an Apparent Viscosity:
app
w
app

Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS

Capillary Rheometer Analysis
For non-Newtonian fluids the Rabinowitch analysis is followed
- From the definition of the volumetric flow rate through a tube:

|

\
|
= =
R
0
2
R
0
2 parts by g integratin
R
0
dr
dr
du
r u r Q dr u(r) r 2 Q
- Applying the no-slip boundary condition and eliminating r with the aid
of eq. (1)

\
|
=

d
dr
du
R
Q W
0
2
3
3
W
Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS
Capillary Rheometer Analysis
After several manipulations we obtain the Rabinowitch equation
|
|

\
|

+ =
|
|

\
|

=
W
app
W
3
W
ln d
lnQ d
4
1
4
3
ln d
lnQ d
4
1
4
3
R
Q 4

The Real Viscosity
of the polymer melt is:
W
w

(2)
Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS
Capillary Rheometer Analysis
To obtain the true shear rate we must plot Q vs
w
on logarithmic
coordinates to evaluate the derivative dlnQ/dln
w
for each point of the curve
For power-law fluids, it turns out that the slope is:
n
1
ln d
lnQ d
W
=

The Rabinowitch equation becomes:

n 4
1 n 3
R
Q 4
3
W
+

Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS

Entrance Pressure Drop
In the previous analysis we have assumed that the measured P by the
instrument corresponds to the pressure drop inside the capillary die, P
cap
P
cap
P
res
~0
P
e
= Entrance Pressure Drop
In reality
cap e res total
P P P P + + =
R
L
2
P
W

=
Therefore from eq. (1) we had:
Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS
Entrance Pressure Drop
Newtonian Fluids and some
melts such as HDPE and PP
Fluids with pronounced non-
Newtonian behaviour
Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS
Bagley Correction for P
e
Unless a very long capillary is used (L/D>100), entrance pressure drop may
considerably affect the accuracy of the measurements.
The Bagley correction is used to correct for this, by assuming that we can
represent this extra entrance pressure drop by an equivalent length of die, e:
Three or four capillaries are used and results are plotted as DP vs L/R:
|

\
|
+

=
e
R
L
2
P
W
The true shear stress is:
Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS
Summary of Corrections
Calculate the apparent shear rate:
3
app
R
Q 4

Correct the shear rate by using the Rabinowitch correction:

|
|

\
|

+ =
W
app W
ln d
lnQ d
4
1
4
3

Obtain true shear stress by using Bagley correction:
|

\
|
+

=
e
R
L
2
P
W
Calculate true viscosity:
w
w