The apparent viscosity decreases from an infinitely high value as the flow increases. These require a minimum shear stress (called yield stress) to initiate flow. Examples include asphalt, liquid nylon, rubber, polymer solutions, paints, DNA suspensions, and some biological fluids. When the agitation ceases there may be some reversal of the elastic deformation. These fluids undergo both elastic and viscous deformations when pumped. Viscoelastic fluids are formed of viscous and elastic components, generally a solvent and a polymer. Examples include cheese, yogurt, and marmalade. Irreversible liquids do not resume their original viscosity after agitation. Typical examples include rubber, latex, and mayonnaise.
These fluids become less viscous with pumping, like thixotropic fluids, but immediately return to their original state when static again. Thixotropic fluids may take a considerable time to settle back to their original viscosity. These fluids become less viscous with pumping, for example: glues, non-drip paint, greases, cellulose compounds, soaps, starches, gelatinous food stuffs, and tar. Examples include some printer inks, lubricants, and certain suspensions of gypsum. These fluids show an increase in viscosity with agitation or pumping but unlike dilatant fluids, the viscosity continues to increase over time. Viscosity increases with agitation or pumping - typically observed in suspensions of fine particles such as cement, sand, lime or starch.
#Define viscosity series#
Treating a fluid in the laminar flow regime as a series of parallel layers, shear stress is the tangential force required to move one horizontal plane, with respect to its neighbour, at constant velocity. The velocity at which the transition between laminar and turbulent flow occurs is related to viscosity. At high fluid velocities, eddy currents are formed which lead to random mixing throughout the flow cross-section. What is laminar flow?Īt low velocities, fluids flow through pipes in a regular manner with no vertical mixing across the wave front. The definition of viscosity is based on laminar, non-turbulent, flow. This can be complex as viscosity can be affected by temperature, pumping speed, pipe dimensions, and, with some fluids, it may also change over time. Viscosity is a measure of a fluid’s resistance to flow, a property that affects how it will behave in a pump and in pipework. Terms Associated with Viscosity and Shear What is Viscosity?