(317a) Modeling the Rheology of Gelation Using Recovery Rheology

We construct a simple phenomenological model based on recovery rheology to explain the gelation dynamics of a wide range of systems that gel via a variety of different mechanisms. The model accounts for many features common across different systems and mechanisms, including the smooth growth of the storage modulus and an overshoot in the loss modulus. All of the time-dependence is accounted for by an evolving unrecoverable flow viscosity. We show that the gelation is a transition from unrecoverable to recoverable acquisition of strain throughout the reaction based on the decomposed dynamic moduli, and propose a new direction of defining the gel point based on an instantaneous Deborah number.