Comparison of equations for mean shear rate in Couette viscometry of biological fluids

Issue title: Dedicated to Professor A. L. Copley

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Benis, A.M.^{; *} | Morinet-Lambert, J.

Affiliations: Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, and Unité de Recherche de Physio-Pathologie Respiratoire de l’INSERM, Faculté de Médecine, Nancy, France

Note: [*] Present address: Cummings Basic Sciences Building, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York 10029.

Abstract: Determination of the rate of shear in a Couette viscometer is not straightforward for a non-Newtonian fluid. Exact methods for the computation of shear rate are available, but they require extensive manipulation of the viscometric data. Examination of the literature shows that various workers have used many different equations for the mean rate of shear in the gap. These equations are compared quantitatively, and it is shown that with a suitable choice of mean shear rate the error in the determined shear stress-shear rate curve can be made to be negligible.

DOI: 10.3233/BIR-1973-10223

Journal: Biorheology, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 271-275, 1973