Cup viscometer - A practical analytical tool

Abstract

This paper focuses on helping smaller companies in the manufacturing industry who need to know the viscosity of their products or raw materials and do not have the funds to invest in expensive rotary rheometers. We developed a calibrated simple cup. It has replaceable nozzles designed so that dripping liquids cannot distort discharge times. The calibration of the cup is based on the relationship between kinematic viscosity and outflow time, which is valid for the laminar flow regimes. Here we described calibration and measurement procedures and methods for detecting non-Newtonian flow behaviour and the viscoelasticity of measured liquids. The maximum measurement error of 3% is defined for cases where all distractions are removed.

Keywords

• kinematic viscosity
• non-newtonian behaviour test
• outflow time