A Simplified Model for the Evaluation of the Rheological Properties of a Suspension of Solids in a Power-Law Fluid

Abstract

An effort is made to determine theoretically the new rheological properties of a rheologically defined non-Newtonian fluid as a result of the addition of particles in the original fluid. A theoretical model is proposed to determine the rheological properties of a dilute suspension of infinite-length round particles for a Power-Law fluid, which is treated as a homogeneous fluid with new rheological properties. The equations of a two-dimensional, dilatational, creeping, steady-state flow of a near-Newtonian fluid around a solid circular particle are developed and solved. The solution is obtained by computation of the dissipation relation and is based on the change of the shear rate in a shear flow of the suspension. The model is solved numerically. The resulting from the particle addition fluid is found to be more shear-thinning in comparison to the original. Experimental evidence from the literature supports the soundness of the present findings.

Keywords

• suspension
• non-newtonian
• shear-thinning
• rheological properties