(163d) Rheology of a Dilute Emulsion of Low-Viscosity Drops at High Shear Rates
AIChE Annual Meeting
2009
2009 Annual Meeting
Engineering Sciences and Fundamentals
Particulate and Multiphase Flow II
Monday, November 9, 2009 - 4:00pm to 4:15pm
A theoretical analysis is presented for the rheology of a dilute emulsion of low-viscosity drops or bubbles in shear flow at high shear rates. In the high-shear-rate limit, the predicted relative shear viscosity of the emulsion is 1 - 2c, where c is the volume fraction of drops. A first normal stress difference proportional to the square-root of the drop viscosity ratio is also predicted; in a suspension of bubbles, the first normal stress decreases with the 3/4 power of the capillary number. Confining boundaries reduce the normal stress but do not strongly influence the shear viscosity.