SOME CONSEQUENCES OF SUSPENSION MODELS FOR NON-VISCOMETRIC FLOWS

Constitutive behavior of a dilute suspension of drops is affected by drop shape. It is known that this shape is determined by both the rate of deformation and the vorticity of the bulk flow field. The effect of these variables on emulsion rheology is determined for an eccentric-disk rheometer, an instrument in which vorticity and rate of deformation are independent variables. It is shown why, at small eccentricities, the emulsion behaves as a linear viscoelastic fluid. Elastic and viscous moduli are related to emulsion properties. Suggestions are offered for the use of an emulsion model to represent the behavior of other viscoelastic liquids in the regime of nonlinear response. © 1979.