| The rheological behavior of short-fiber polypropylene has been studied in shear flow. Because of some restrictions in the measurement and the complex behavior of the matrix, we chose to use model fiber suspensions in two different types of matrix, a Newtonian polybutene and a Boger fluid. The steady-state viscosity of the Newtonian polybutene increased by adding fibers and the behavior of the fiber suspensions essentially remained Newtonian. The Boger fluid was obtained by adding a high molecular weight polyisobutylene to the Newtonian polybutene.; The transient behavior of all types of fiber suspensions (with the viscoelastic, the Newtonian and the Boger fluid matrices) in shear flow has been investigated.; Following a first deformation, the sample has been sheared in the reverse direction and a viscosity overshoot called the "reverse overshoot" was measured at a larger strain in comparison with the primary viscosity overshoot. The reverse overshoot has been attributed to tumbling of fibers that are not totally aligned with the flow direction even after a very long time. When the flow was reversed, the normal stress difference took initially minimum values and depicted a smaller positive overshoot before reaching the steady-state plateau.; Two models have been used to simulate the rheological behavior of fiber suspensions. The first model is based on the Folgar and Tucker equation for fiber motion and Lipscomb constitutive equation. This model describes qualitatively well the transient behavior of fiber suspensions in both forward and reverse direction flows. However, the fiber motions predicted by the model are faster than deducted from the experiments. This was tentatively explained by non-affined deformation and direct contacts with neighboring fibers, reducing fiber rotation.; The second model investigated was the extended Jeffery model developed by Grmela et al. (2003) who generalized the Jeffery model, to include fiber-fiber interactions via angular momentum and effective inertia of fibers. With a correct choice for the free energy, the model can describe, in principle, the rheological behavior of fiber suspensions. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
