Rheology

Rheology is defined as the science of the deformation and flow of matter and describes mainly
the material properties of fluid and semi-solid materials. Rheology is interdisciplinary and is
used to describe the properties of a wide variety of materials such as oils, foods, inks, polymers,
clays, concrete, asphalt e.t.c. The common factor is that these materials exhibit some sort of
flow and, therefore, can not be treated as solids.

Viscosity

One of the properties often dealt with in rheology is viscosity which measures how thick a fluid
is. For example is the viscosity of syrup (molasses in American) higher than the viscosity of
water. It can be measured in several ways and I will here show how the viscosity of syrup is
measured using a rotational viscometer. The syrup (yellow in the picture) is first poured into a
cup. A tapered cylinder, which is called a "bob" is then inserted concentrically into the cup so
that it is completely immersed in the syrup.

When the cup is rotated, the syrup transmits the torque to the bob which will also start rotating
if nothing prevents it. The torque bar is fixed to both the bob and to the measuring instrument,
and prevents the bob from rotating. It is not completely stiff but allows a small deflection of
the bob which is proportional to the torque transmitted by the syrup.

The transmitted torque increases if the rotational speed increases and the viscosity is calculated
by dividing the torque with the rotational speed (see equations). The viscosity of syrup is
constant whichever rotational speed is used and the syrup is characterized as a "Newtonian"
fluid. This is not the case for all fluids. One example of a "non-Newtonian" fluid is cookie
dough which becomes less viscous, or less thick, the higher the rotational speed. This can be
shown in a flow curve. The opposite behaviour is less common, but can appear e.g. in a starch
dispersion.

Viscoelasticity

Some materials are intermediate between solids and fluids and the viscosity is not enough to
characterize them. (The cookie dough is actually a good example of this.) A solid material can
be described by its elasticity or resilience: when it is deformed it will store the energy and fight
back. Imagine a spring that regains its original shape after being deformed. The other extreme
is a fluid which stores no energy while deformed and just flows. A viscoelastic material is
intermediate and stores some energy and flows a little when deformed.

The setup used for measuring viscosity can also be used for characterizing a viscoelastic
material if the contineous rotation of the cup is replaced by a harmonic deformation. If you
want to measure the properties of e.g. a viscoelastic gelatin jelly you mix gelatin and water and
heat the mixture. Then you pour the solution into the cup, insert the bob and let it set to a gel.

If the cup would be rotated as when you measure viscosity, the gel would break and the
measurement would be made on a material with different properties than the gel. The cup is
instead moved back and forward in a sinusoidal motion with a maximum deformation small
enough not to break the gel.
The movement of the bob depends both on the strength of the gel and on its degree of viscosity.
If the gel was completely elastic, the bob would move in phase with the movement of the cup.
If it was a fluid, the bob would move out of phase with the cup. A viscoelastic material is
intermediate and moves partly out of phase

Rheology

Rheology (/riːˈɒlədʒi/; from Greek ῥέω rhéō, "flow" and -λoγία, -logia, "study of") is the study
of the flow of matter, primarily in a liquid state, but also as "soft solids" or solids under
conditions in which they respond with plastic flow rather than deforming elastically in response
to an applied force. It is a branch of physics which deals with the deformation and flow of
materials, both solids and liquids. [1]

The term rheology was coined by Eugene C. Bingham, a professor at Lafayette College, in
1920, from a suggestion by a colleague, Markus Reiner.[2][3] The term was inspired by the
aphorism of Simplicius (often attributed to Heraclitus), panta rhei, "everything flows",[4][5] and
was first used to describe the flow of liquids and the deformation of solids. It applies to
substances that have a complex microstructure, such as muds, sludges, suspensions, polymers
and other glass formers (e.g., silicates), as well as many foods and additives, bodily fluids (e.g.,
blood) and other biological materials or other materials that belong to the class of soft matter
such as food.

Newtonian fluids can be characterized by a single coefficient of viscosity for a specific

temperature. Although this viscosity will change with temperature, it does not change with the
strain rate. Only a small group of fluids exhibit such constant viscosity. The large class of fluids
whose viscosity changes with the strain rate (the relative flow velocity) are called non-
Newtonian fluids.

Rheology generally accounts for the behavior of non-Newtonian fluids, by characterizing the
minimum number of functions that are needed to relate stresses with rate of change of strain or
strain rates. For example, ketchup can have its viscosity reduced by shaking (or other forms of
mechanical agitation, where the relative movement of different layers in the material actually
causes the reduction in viscosity) but water cannot. Ketchup is a shear thinning material, like
yogurt and emulsion paint (US terminology latex paint or acrylic paint), exhibiting thixotropy,
where an increase in relative flow velocity will cause a reduction in viscosity, for example, by
stirring. Some other non-Newtonian materials show the opposite behavior, rheopecty: viscosity
going up with relative deformation, and are called shear thickening or dilatant materials. Since
Sir Isaac Newton originated the concept of viscosity, the study of liquids with strain rate
dependent viscosity is also often called Non-Newtonian fluid mechanics.[1]

The experimental characterization of a material's rheological behaviour is known as rheometry,

although the term rheology is frequently used synonymously with rheometry, particularly by
experimentalists. Theoretical aspects of rheology are the relation of the flow/deformation
behaviour of material and its internal structure (e.g., the orientation and elongation of polymer
molecules), and the flow/deformation behaviour of materials that cannot be described by
classical fluid mechanics or elasticity.

For Petroleum Engineering :

The science and study of the deformation and flow of matter. The term is also used to indicate
the properties of a given fluid, as in mud rheology. Rheology is an extremely important
property of drilling muds, drill-in fluids, workover and completion fluids, cements and
specialty fluids and pills. Mud rheology is measured on a continual basis while drilling and
adjusted with additives or dilution to meet the needs of the operation. In water-base fluids,
water quality plays an important role in how additives perform. Temperature affects behavior
and interactions of the water, clay, polymers and solids in a mud. Downhole pressure must be
taken into account in evaluating the rheology of oil muds.

Generally, the study of how matter deforms and flows, including its elasticity, plasticity and
viscosity. In geology, rheology is particularly important in studies of moving ice, water, salt
and magma, as well as in studies of deforming rocks.

For efficient and systematic characterization of rheology of oil-production-related fluids, a

Rheology Laboratory is being established at UT's Center for Petroleum and Geosystems
Engineering. The following rheology tools are available:

 A rheometer (TA Instruments' ARES LS-1) which has independent strain and stress
controls and can measure the shear-rate-dependent viscosity, and the oscillatory
viscosity and other viscoelastic properties of non-Newtonian fluids
 Fann 50 viscometer which can measure shear viscosity at high temperature (up to 500
°F) and high pressure (up to 1,000 psig)
 A number of Fann 35 viscometers for routine measurements of shear viscosity
 LS-30 viscometer which measures the low-shear viscosity