Determination of Rheological Properties and Dispersion Quality of Shear Thickening Fluid

Abstract

In this research, the rheological properties of non-Newtonian shear thickening fluid (STF) composed of nano-sized solid particles have been investigated. The best conditions have been determined by optimizing both the experimental production method and the rheological measurement system of STFs. Mechanical, ultrasonic, and both mechanical and ultrasonic mixing methods were used in the production of STFs that nano-sized silica particle (solid: aerosil) and polyethylene glycol (liquid medium: PEG). Also, the spacing between the plates was changed during the rheological measurements and the effect on the rheological character of the suspension was also compared. Although the best homogenization was obtained with the ultrasonic mixer in the produced STFs, the lowest performance was observed in the rheological measurements of these samples. In STFs obtained at high mixing speed with a mechanical mixer, the viscosity of the fluid increased abruptly with increasing shear rate. In the measurements, it was observed that the gap change between the parallel plates did not affect the rheological characteristics much.