Capillary Rheometer

The capillary rheometer (or

viscometer) is the most
common device for measuring
viscosity. Gravity, compressed
gas or a piston is used to
generate pressure on the test
fluid in a reservoir. A capillary
tube of radius R and length L
is connected to the bottom of
the reservoir. Pressure drop
and flow rate through this tube
are used to determine
viscosity

Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS

 Capillary Rheometer Analysis
The flow situation inside the capillary rheometer die is essentially
identical to the problem of pressure driven flow inside a tube (Poiseuille
flow).

We can record force on

piston, F (or the pressure
drop ∆P), and volumetric
flow rate, Q

Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS

 Capillary Rheometer Analysis
Recall from Fluid Mechanics

Shear stress profile inside the tube:
r  ∆P  R  ∆P 
τ =   At the wall (r=R): τW =   (1)
2 L  2  L 

Velocity profile inside the tube:

∆P R 
2
 r  
2

u(r) = 1 −   
4 µ L   R  

Hagen-Poiseuille law for pressure driven flow of Newtonian
fluids inside a tube:
8Q −4
∆P = µL R
π
Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS
 Capillary Rheometer Analysis

Shear rate:
True shear rate for
du ∆P 4Q Newtonian fluids but
γɺ = = R= = γɺ apparent Apparent shear rate ( γɺ app)
dr 2µL πR 3
for non-Newtonian fluids

∴ For non-Newtonian fluids if we use the apparent shear rate then we

can only calculate an Apparent Viscosity:

τw
η app =
γɺ app

Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS

 Capillary Rheometer Analysis
For non-Newtonian fluids the Rabinowitch analysis is followed

- From the definition of the volumetric flow rate through a tube:

R R  du 
Q = 2 π ∫ r u(r) dr → Q = πr u 0 − ∫
    πr  dr
integrating by parts 2 R 2
0 0
 dr 

- Applying the “no-slip” boundary condition and eliminating r with the aid
of eq. (1)
τ 3W Q τW  du 
= ∫ τ   dτ
2

πR 3 0
 dr 

Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS

 Capillary Rheometer Analysis
After several manipulations we obtain the Rabinowitch equation

4Q  3 1 d lnQ   3 1 d lnQ 
γɺ W =  +
3 
 = γɺ app  +  (2)
πR  4 4 d lnτ W   4 4 d lnτ W 
∴ The Real Viscosity
of the polymer melt is:

τw
η=
γɺ W

Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS

 Capillary Rheometer Analysis

To obtain the “true” shear rate we must plot Q vs τw on logarithmic
coordinates to evaluate the derivative dlnQ/dlnτw for each point of the curve

For power-law fluids, it turns out that the slope is:

d lnQ 1
=
d lnτ W n

∴The Rabinowitch equation becomes:

4Q 3n + 1
γɺ W =
πR 3 4n

Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS

 Entrance Pressure Drop

In the previous analysis we have assumed that the measured ∆P by the
instrument corresponds to the pressure drop inside the capillary die, ∆Pcap
∆P
Therefore from eq. (1) we had: τ W =
L
2
R

∆Pres~0

∆Pe= Entrance Pressure Drop

∆Pcap

In reality
∆Ptotal = ∆Pres + ∆Pe + ∆Pcap
Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS
 Entrance Pressure Drop
Newtonian Fluids and some Fluids with pronounced non-
melts such as HDPE and PP Newtonian behaviour

Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS

 Bagley Correction for ∆Pe
Unless a very long capillary is used (L/D>100), entrance pressure drop may
considerably affect the accuracy of the measurements.

The Bagley correction is used to correct for this, by assuming that we can
represent this extra entrance pressure drop by an equivalent length of die, e:
− Three or four capillaries are used and results are plotted as DP vs L/R:

The true shear stress is:

∆P
τW =
L 
2 + e 
R 

Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS

 Summary of Corrections
4Q
Calculate the apparent shear rate: γɺ app =
πR 3
Correct the shear rate by using the Rabinowitch correction:
 3 1 d lnQ 
γɺ W = γɺ app  + 
 4 4 d lnτ W 

Obtain true shear stress by using Bagley correction:

∆P
τW =
L 
2 + e 
R 
τw
Calculate true viscosity: η=
γɺ w

Fluidodinamica 15/10/2007 FDS