Abstract
Falling-ball rheometry is used to study a suspension (volume fraction solids=0.05) of large, neutrally buoyant rods (length=3.175 cm, diameter=0.154 cm) in a viscous Newtonian liquid. We find that all sizes of balls studied (0.65 cm ≤ diameter ≤1.90 cm) experience the same continuum that is characterized by a single viscosity which we have measured to be 2.41 times greater than that of the pure suspending liquid. The viscosity increase due to the presence of the rods is over 12 times greater than that observed for a suspension of uniform spheres having the same volume fraction. The results are free of any flow induced clustering and orientation effects and are in reasonable agreement with theoretical predictions for randomly oriented rods.
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