Rheological Properties of a Natural Estuarine Mud

Abstract

In this paper, the linear and non-linear rheological properties of estuarine cohesive sediments were investigated. The density of the sediments has been determined by pycnometry. Creep and oscillatory shear measurements have been performed in order to determine i) the transitions in mechanical response to creep and oscillatory shear and ii) the material properties of these natural fluids as a function of their density. For all samples tested, four different rheological transitions have been determined and all material properties have been shown to be satisfactorily fitted by exponential functions of the density.

Keywords

• cohesive sediments
• mud rheology
• viscoelasticity
• non-newtonian behavior