NON-NEWTONIAN

SYSTEMS
*Most pharmaceutical fluids do not follow
Newtonian law because the viscosity of the
fluid varies with the rate of shear.
*The reason for these deviations arises from
the fact that the pharmaceuticals fluids
usually are not simple fluids such as water
and syrup, but are disperse or colloidal
systems, including emulsions, suspensions
and gels.
TYPES OF NON-NEWTONIAN BEHAVIOUR
*More than one type of deviation from
Newton's law can be recognized
*The type of deviation that occurs is the
one that is used to classify the particular
material.
*If a Newtonian fluid is subjected to an
increasing rate of shear, γ, and the
corresponding shear stress, (σ), is recorded
then a plot of σ against γ will produce a
linear relationship
*Such a plot is usually referred to as a flow
curve or rheogram.

*The slope of this plot will give the viscosity

of the fluid and its reciprocal the fluidity. By
the equation of Newton’s law i.e

*It implies that this line will pass through the

origin.
Types of Non-Newtonian flow curves
1.) Plastic (or Bingham) flow
*When the rheogram does not pass
through the origin but intersects with the
shear stress axis at a point usually referred
to as the yield value, (σy).
*This implies that a plastic material does not
flow until such a value of shear stress has
been exceeded, and at lower stresses the
substance behaves as a solid (elastic)
material.
*Plastic materials are often referred to as
Bingham bodies.
*The equation derived is given as:

*where ηp is the plastic viscosity and σy the

Bingham yield stress or value.
*The equation implies that the rheogram is a
straight line intersecting the shear stress
axis at the yield value σy.
*In practice, flow occurs at a lower shear
stress than σy.
*This extrapolation also gives the Bingham or
apparent yield value; the slope is the plastic
viscosity.
*Plastic flow is exhibited by concentrated
suspensions, particularly if the continuous
phase is of high viscosity or if the particles
are flocculated.
2.) Pseudoplastic flow
*The rheogram begins at the origin and, as
no yield value exists, the material flows as
soon as a shear stress is applied
*The slope of the curve gradually decreases
with increasing rate of shear.
*The viscosity is derived from the slope and
therefore decreases as the shear rate is
increased.
*Materials exhibiting this behaviour are said
to be pseudoplastic, and no single value of
viscosity can be considered as
characteristic.
*The viscosity can only be calculated from
the slope of a tangent drawn to the curve
at a specific point.
*Such viscosities are known as apparent
viscosities and are only of any use if quoted
in conjunction with the shear rate at which
the determination was made.
*There is no completely satisfactory
quantitative explanation of pseudoplastic
flow
*Probably the most widely used is the Power
Law, given as:

*where η' is a viscosity coefficient and the

exponent n an index of pseudoplasticity.
*When n = 1, then η‘ becomes the dynamic
viscosity thus agreeing with Newton’s law
but as a material becomes more
pseudoplastic then the value of n will fall.
3.) Dilatant flow
*The opposite type of flow to
pseudoplasticity depicted by the curve
*The viscosity increases with increase in shear
rate.
*Such materials increases in volume during
shearing thus are referred to as dilatant and
exhibit shear thickening.
*An equation similar to that for pseudoplastic
flow may be used to describe dilatant
behaviour, but the value of the exponent n
will be greater than 1 and will increase as
dilatancy increases.
*This type of behaviour is less common than
plastic or pseudoplastic flow but may be
exhibited by dispersions containing a high
concentration (= 50%) of small, deflocculated
particles.
*Dilatancy can be a problem during
processing of dispersions and granulation of
tablet masses when high-speed blenders
and mills are employed.
*If the material being processed becomes
dilatant in nature then the resultant
solidification could overload and damage
the motor.
*Changing the batch or supplier of the
material used could lead to processing
problems, which can only be avoided by
rheological evaluation of the dispersions
prior to their introduction in the
production process.