Volume 24, Issue 3

This paper is concerned with the numerical solution of polymer melt flows of both extrudate-swell and tube-tooling die-extrusion coatings, using a hybrid finite element/finite volume discretisation fe/fv. Extrudate-swell presents a single dynamic freesurface, whilst the complex polymer melt coating flow exhibit two separate free-surface draw-down sections to model, an inner and outer conduit surface of the melt. The interest lies in determining efficient windows for process control over variation in material properties, stressing levels generated and pressure drop. In this respect, major rheological influences are evaluated on the numerical predictions generated of the extensional viscosity and Trouton ratio, when comparing solution response for an exponential Phan-Thien Tanner (EPTT, network-based) model to that for a single extended Pom-Pom (SXPP, kinematic-based) model. The impact of shear-thinning is also considered. Attention is paid to the influence and variation in Weissenberg number We, solvent-fraction β (polymeric concentration), and second normal stress difference N 2 (ξ parameter for both EPTT, and a anisotropy parameter for SXPP). The influence of model choice and parameters upon field response is described in situ through, pressure, shear and strain-rates and stress. The numerical scheme solves the momentum-continuity- surface equations by a semi-implicit time-stepping incremental Taylor-Galerkin/pressure-correction finite element method, whilst invoking a cell-vertex fluctuation distribution/median-dual-cell finite volume approximation for the first-order space-time hyperbolic-type stress evolution equation.

Incorporation of liposome into gel is the most common approach for the preparation of topical and transdermal liposomal formulation, due to the ability of liposome to improve the drug deposition and permeation rate within the skin. In this study, the liposomal gel consisted of iota-carrageenan, carboxymethyl cellulose, and chitosan-coated-oleic acid liposome were prepared. The effect of liposomes on the rheological properties of the iota-carrageenan-carboxymethyl cellulose mix gel was evaluated. The rheological result indicated that the presence of the chitosan-coated-oleic acid liposomes in the gel had modified the viscoelastic and flow characteristics of the gel. The input energy from the oscillatory test could be stored more effectively in the elastic component of the liposomal gels, as compared to the original gel itself. This result showed that the liposomal gels exhibited greater elasticity and were more solid-like when compared with the original gel system. The complex viscosity of the liposomal gels was slightly higher than the original gel. The complex viscosity of the liposomal gels was also found to decrease with increasing frequency, indicating the shear thinning behavior of the liposomal gels. The lower Power Law Index PLI of the liposomal gels indicated a greater shear thinning behavior and better spreadability.

Rheological and electrical properties of polymeric nanoparticle solutions and their influence on the rheological and electrical properties of red blood cell (RBC) suspensions have been studied. Poly(acrylic acid) macromolecules of different architecture and molecular weight were used: (i) a new core-shell type star polymer whose interior forms hyperbranched polystyrene bearing arms of poly(acrylic acid) with molecular weight M n = 56 920 Da and (ii) linear polyacrylic chains with average molecular weights M n = 6000, 20000, and 225000 Da. The polymers dissolved in physiological solution with weight concentrations 1 mg/ml and 0.2 mg/ml were used for the experiments. Under physiological conditions the star-shaped macromolecules present spherical nanoparticles while the linear poly(acrylic acid)s adopt an extended chain conformation close to rod-like particles. The apparent viscosity of the nanoparticle solutions and RBC suspensions in the presence and absence (the control) of nanoparticles were measured using a rotational viscometer Contraves Low Shear 30 (LS 30) at a steady flow at shear rates from 0.0237 to 94.5 s -1 and temperature 37º C. A method, based on the measurement of dielectric properties of dispersed systems in Couette viscometric blood flow was applied. A concurrent measurement system and data acquisition system implied into the Contraves LS 30 were used to quantify the electrical conductivity. The main advantage of this technique is that blood is subjected to a uniform shearing field in a Couette rheometric cell as well as the information about the mechanical and electrical properties of the fluid is obtained in parallel. The results show that rheological and electrical properties of the nanoparticle solutions and RBC suspensions, namely their electrical conductivity and apparent viscosity, are dependent on the shear rates, shape, concentration and molecular weight of the polymers.

This work contributes to the theory of strain controlled large amplitude oscillatory shear (LAOS) as well as modelling the key properties of type III behavior of Hyun, the decreasing storage modulus and a loss modulus with considerable maximum. The latter two can be modelled with the help of the Prandtl element. Since it is a yield stress fluid, the use of LAOS is necessary to calculate the storage and loss modulus. Furthermore, a condition is presented which has to be met in order to avoid even harmonics. The storage and loss modulus as well as the higher harmonics of the Prandtl element are determined analytically in this work. They are given as mathematical functions which can be discussed conveniently. This allows the identification of characteristic points which are related to material parameters of the Prandtl element and enable a physically motivated material parameter identification. Beside this, it is observed that the yield strain do not coincide with the crossover G’(ŷ) = G’’(ŷ) but with the increasing of the loss modulus and the decreasing of the storage modulus. Thanks to the analytical calculations, it is also obvious that the stress response of yield stress fluids does not necessarily include even harmonics. In this work the steady state stress response of the Prandtl element is also presented as Lissajous plots and Pipkin diagrams to visualise the rheological fingerprint.

Phase-separable particulate-containing gel structures constitute complex fluids. In many cases they may incorporate component concentration inhomogeneities within the ensemble matrix. When formulated into high consistency suspensions, these can lead to unpredictable time-dependent variations in rheological response, particularly under shear in simple parallel plate and cylindrical rotational geometries. Smoothing function algorithms are primarily designed to cope with random noise. In the case studied here, namely nanocellulose-based high consistency aqueous suspensions, the system is not randomised but based on a series of parallel and serial spatial and time related mechanisms. These include: phase separation, wall slip, stress relaxation, breakdown of elastic structure and inhomogeneous time-dependent and induced structure rebuild. When vacuum dewatering is applied to such a suspension while under shear, all these effects are accompanied by the development of an uneven solid content gradient within the sample, which further adds to transitional phenomena in the recorded rheological data due to spatial and temporal differences in yield stress distribution. Although these phenomena are strictly speaking not noise, it is nevertheless necessary to apply relevant data smoothing in order to extract apparent/process viscosity parameters in respect to averaging across the structural ensemble. The control parameters in the measurement of the rheological properties, to which smoothing is applied, are focused on parallel plate gap, surface geometry, shear rate, oscillation frequency and strain variation, and relaxation time between successive applications of strain. The smoothing algorithm follows the Tikhonov regularisation procedure.