Rheol.

Acta 14, 404~-09 (1975)

Department of ChemicalandBiochemical Engineering, Universityof Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA)

A general model for the effective viscosity of pseudoplastic and dilatant fluids
St. W. C h u r c h i l l a n d R. U. C h u r c h i l l
With 8 figures
Nomenclature
b
x

y(x)
yo(X)
y~(x)
z

~A
qB

~0

~o(C)
~(c)
%
c
CA
~0
Cl/2

arbitrary constant in Sisko model (eq. [5])

arbitrary exponent in eq. [1]
independent variable
dependent variable
limiting behavior of dependent variable as x ~ 0
limiting behavior of dependent variable as
x~oo
original dependent variable
arbitrary constant in Sisko model (eq. [5]) and
Bird-Sisko model (eq. [6])
arbitrary exponent in eqs. [2] and [8]
effective viscosity = shear stress/rate of shear
effective viscosity at c = CA
empirical constant in eqs~ [2] and [8]
limiting value of effective viscosity as c --+ 0
limiting behavior of effective viscosity as c--, 0
limiting value of effective viscosity as z ~ oo
limiting behavior of effective viscosity as c ~ oo
rate of shear
arbitrary constant in Bird-Sisko model (eq. [6])
shear stress
arbitrary constant in eqs. [2] and [8]
shear stress at ~)~ 0 in Bingharn model
shear stress at t/= (q0 + r/oo)/2

(Received April 10, 1973)

Construction of general model for

pseudoplastic fluids
Eq. [1] appears to have particular value for
correlation of the effective viscosity of pseudoplastic and dilatant fluids as a function of shear
stress. F o r a pseudoplastic fluid with the
behavior indicated in fig. l a only the limiting
values of ~o and ~oo rather than the limiting
functional dependences are ordinarily known.

~o~~,//~m(

~") (b)

,d,

Lf4~o

tog 7?

Churchill and Usagi (1) have demonstrated

that data for m a n y p h e n o m e n a can be successfully correlated in terms of the general expression
y*(x) = y(x) + y%(x)

[1]

where yo(x) and y~(x) are the asymptotic

solutions or limiting correlations for small and
large values of x, respectively. If these limiting
functions are k n o w n the best value of the
arbitrary exponent n can be determined from
one or more intermediate values of y and x.
If the dependent variable is an increasing power
of x, n is positive. If the dependent variable is a
decreasing power of x, n is negative. In this
latter case negative values of n can be avoided,
if desired, by defining the dependent variable
y as 1/z where z is the original dependent variable.
156

/
log -c

Fig. 1. Asymptotic behavior of pseudoplastic and

dilatant fluids
This is insufficient information to apply eq. [1]
directly. W h a t is needed is either t/o(~ ) or ~~(z),
as indicated in fig. lb. If for example, asymptotic
behavior for large shear stress of the general
form

Churchill and Churchill, A general modelfor the efJective viscosity of pseudoplastic and dilatantfluids

[2]

tl~(T) = tloo + tl @ - '

is postulated where # > 0, and if y is defined as

1/(tl - tloo), eq. [1] takes the form
[3]

(tl - tloo) "=

(tlo - tloo)" +

--~A

405

Simplifieation of model
Eq. [4] can be simplified s o m e w h a t before
evaluating the constants by arbitrarily choosing
tl = tlo - ~~. This was not done originally in
eqs. [2] and [3] only in order to permit direct
reduction to the Frederickson-Sisko and Bingham
models. Eq. [4] then becomes

which can be rearranged as

(.,o ~~;+((,,o ,,~) ~ 7 ~4~

Extension of general model for dilatant fluids

tl-

tl oo

tl

CA I /

Reduction of general model to prior models

Eq. [4] includes as special cases m a n y of the
models previously p r o p o s e d to represent viscosity data for pseudoplastic fluids:
1) For n = 1 eq. [4] has the form of the equation
p r o p o s e d by Meter (2).
2) For n = 1 and tl~ = 0 the form of the Ellis
m o d e l is obtained.
3) F o r n = 1 and # = 2 the form of the ReinerPhillippoff m o d e l is obtained.
4) F o r n = 1 and with Y in place of z the form of
the equation p r o p o s e d by Cross (3) is obtained.
5) The model p r o p o s e d by Sisko (5) is equivalent
to

tl = ,l~ + be

[5]

which is a special case of eq. [4] for n = 1 and

tlo ~ oo in terms of ) rather than z.
5) F o r n = 1 and in the limit as tlo ~ oo the form
called the Sisko model by Frederickson (4) is
obtained. Bird (6) refers to the Sisko model as
[6]

tlo-tloo
tl

tloo

1+

--

I ~~~

[7]

%'A

The behavior of a dilatant fluid is indicated

diagrammatically in fig. l c. The functional
behavior in the two limits is indicated in fig. 1 d.
This time the general form

~~(t)

= tl~ -

(tl~ -

tlo)

[8]

can be postulated, again with fl > 0, for the

asymptotic behavior for large shear stress.
Choosing y as 1/(tloo - tl), eq. [1] takes the form
tloo - tlo
tloo q

= 1 +

[9]

which is equivalent to eq. [7]. Thus the same

general model is applicable to both pseudoplastic and dilatant fluids.

Evaluation of constants in model

The five constants in eq. [7] can be evaluated
systematically as follows:
1) A plot of log tl vs.log t such as in fig. 1 yields
the limiting values tlo and tloo as indicated.
2) The a s y m p t o t e at large t of a plot of
log (t1 - tloo) vs. log t as in fig. 2 defines # and rA.
3) The exponent n can be evaluated by orte

tlo

which is a special case of eq. [13] in terms of

rather than t.)
7) F o r n = l , # =
1, t l o = 0 , r l = t l 0 o a n d T A = %
eq. [4] reduces to the Bingham model for
I~1 > to.

\\

. . . . . . . . . . . . ~ : \-\

~,~ -"q~ ...........

~"-i"~\"

.~,-sto pe

l.og ("q-'%)

8) For n = 1 and tl o~ : 0 eq. [4] approaches the

Ostwald-deWaele (power-law) model as t
increases.
In all of the above special cases n is taken as
unity. In each of these cases the remaining
constants can readily be identified with those
in the conventional form of the particular model.

vA
log T
Fig. 2. Determination of/9, ~A and ~4
27

Rheologica Acta, Vol. 14, No. 5 (1975)

406

of the several procedures proposed by Churchill

and Usagi (1). If t / = ~/Ais known for t = "cA then

[io3

n = In 2/ln (-~-A0- ~/q) .

I

I I I

v~i,ol_

exaggerated. In this application the scatter may

also be magnified by a poor prior choice of the
other four constants. Conversely the final correlation is relatively insensitive to the value of n
and a round number or simple fraction can
generally be chosen without serious error.
4) Values of ~ are offen not available at
sufficiently large -c to define t/o~ in a plot such
as fig. la. A better value may be obtained
iteratively by recalculating r/~ from eq. [7] for
large t after tA and/~ are determined, i. e.,

t/o -

t/

"c
tA
z IP
TA

l 2
1 0 -'t

10

Fig. 3. Logarithmic chart for determination of n

Alternatively values of (t/ - t/~)/(qo - q~) can
be plotted vs. l t / r A I~ on logarithmic coordinates.
n is then chosen by comparison with the family
of curves corresponding to discrete values of n
as illustfated in fig. 3. A more critical evaluation
can be made by plotting values of ( t / - rl~)/
(r/o - r/~) vs. I'c/zAIa from 0 to 1 and values of

(~ ~~)1~ i ~1~

--

r/o -

q~

vs.

as

7oo

z --. oQ .

[11]

In cases where even this procedure does not

yield a satisfactory value for zoo an approximate
value or zero may be chosen arbitrarily; the
correlation will still be reasonably valid for "c
less than the maximum experimental values.
It is very desirable to use experimental values
of t/ and "c to evaluate the constants. Values of
the constants determined for the various simpler
models will not necessarily carry over to the
more general model.
Alternative

f o r m for c o r r e l a t i o n

Instead of postulating eq. [2] for large q

asymptotic behavior of the general form

from 1 to 0 on

ta

arithmetric coordinates, n is chosen by comparison'of the plotted values with curves representing discrete values of n as illustrated in
fig. 4 which is actually the inverse of the plot
proposed by Churchill and Usagi. Fig. 4 is an
expanded plot of the variance from the limiting
solutions. Hence any scatter in the data will be

,1o(~) = ,7o - (,1o - ,7oo) ~

B23

can be postulated for small 'c for a pseudoplastic

fluid as suggested by fig. lb, and y chosen to be
1/(~/o - t/) leading to
.~_2-~___~.
\ t/o-t/

1.0

L0

0,8

0.8

[13]

~"q~ o.6
-qo-7/~-~

"r]O~ho o.4

ra t

ON.

0.2

02

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

0.8

0.6

0,4

0,2

Fig. 4. Arithmetic chart for precise

determination of n

Churchill and Churchill, A general model for the effective viscosity of pseudoplastic and dilatant fluids
Similarly for a dilatant fluid the expression
~o(~)

= ~o + (,Io -

~oo)

!z~ , ~

407

because of the flexibility afforded by the other

four constants.
Bird (6) noted for a number of fluids that the
value of cA obtained for the Ellis model (eq. [7]
with n = 1 and ~o~ = 0) from a log-log plot of
t/0/~ rs. ~ was not equal to the value of z at
t/o/~ = 2. This discrepancy can be minimized
by using eq. [7] instead of the Ellis model
and noting that rA equals ~ at (t/o -t/oo)/

[14]

can be postulated for small v instead of eq. [8]

for large ~. The choice of y as 1/(t/ - r/0) then
leads to eq. [13] in this case as well.
Eq. [13] is identical to eq. [-7] only for n = 1.
One or the other expression may be slightly
more successful for correlating a particular set
of data. The eonstants in eq. [12] can be evaluated by a procedure equivalent to that outlined
above for eq. [7].

(t/ - r/oo) = 21/".

Example

The experimental data of Ashare (8) for a 5 ~

wt solution of monodisperse polystyrene with
a molecular weight of 1.8 10 in Aroclor 1248,
a chlorinated diphenyl, can be used to illustrate
the use of eq. [7] for correlation. These data were
chosen because they are available in tabular
form and extend to a sufficiently high rate of
shear to indicate an asymptotic value for the
effective viscosity.
Fig. 5 indicates that these data do not define
values of t/o and t/~o very precisely. A value of
160 poise was derived for t/oo by the iterative
procedure described above. The value of 7600
poise derived for t/o by Ashare was accepted
to expedite comparison with his correlation.
The asymptote drawn in fig. 6 yields a slope
fi ~ 8/3 and an intersection with t / - r/~ =
t/0 - t/~ = 7440 poise at rA ~ 1920 dyne/cm 2.
The corresponding value of t / A - t/oo ~ 3000
poise. Hence n = ln2/ln (7440/3000) = 0.763.
Fig. 7 is a plot of the data in the form of fig. 4
with the indicated values of t/o, t/~, zA and fi.
Curves representing n = 0.70, 0.75 and 0.80 are
included. The scatter in the data at large and

Significance of constants

Two of the five constants in eq. [7] and [13],

~o and ~1~o, can be interpreted in terms of the
limiting behavior; two constants, ~a and fl, can
be interpreted in terms of the intermediate
power-law-type behavior; and n can be interpreted as the appropriate order of the mean
of the two limiting solutions. White and Churchill
(7) have asserted that very precise data are
needed to define so many constants uniquely.
If the data do not have this degree of precision
they can be fitted almost equally well over a
range of values of some of the constants. In this
event the correlation may be successful but
physical interpretation of these constants cannot
be justified. This is almost certainly the case
with typical rheological data.
The use of n = 1 in the models mentioned
above is arbitrary and has no theoretical
justification. Reasonable success in correlation
has apparently been attained because of the
insensitivity of eq. [7] to the value of n and

10 a - G

poise
103

n:

,~:12

Eq7
.......

3/4 ~ / 1 9 2 0

Eq.13, n = 5 / 3 ,

)3 = 8 / 5 ,

dyne/cma

~'~"

r a = 2150 dyne/cm 2

,r]
~o

i
~0

I
10 2

F [

10 3
T-dynes/cm

I
10 4

I
10 5

Fig. 5. Experimental data

and final correlations for
5% wt, 1800000 MW potystyrene in Aroclor 1248
27*

408

Rheologica Acta, Vol. 14, No. 5 (1975)

10
io 4
%-% ~

I i ~~~~~i,J7~
....
,4~--

%-~A

('~-'q~)/2
"r/A- ~~103 ~

---

poise

%
102

poise 1 3

~,

I l I I I

~(
slope = -8/3
,,I

, ,

,LI
,i0 4

10 3
T-

slpe = -12/5
~'~~/
V,
V',,
I , I I
10 5

10

10 2

/i #
o///
/ /
/ /
slope = 8/5 ~

~,~~

~~/

~72~

"rA
! IJ

L . i - /.~~~o oooo

}~ .....

r/-T/~

1o
10 2

rt/z

~o~~ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

/
//i

//.

slope = I2/5

#Y
/
/I/

T J
10 3

T-dynes/cm

dynes/cm 2

I T 1I

10 `+

Fig. 6. Determination of fl, rA, Zl/2 and /~A for 5% wt,

1800000 MW polystyrene in Aroclor 1248

Fig. 8. Alternative determination of #, zl/ ~Aand t/A for

5% wt, 1800000 MW polystyrene in Aroclor 1248

small shear stresses, and hence the uncertainty

in t/o and t/~o, is even m o r e evident in this form.
Considering the scatter of these data and the
insensitivity of the correlation to the value of
n a round value of 3/4 can be chosen.
Fig. 6 was also used to construct a correlation
with n arbitrarily chosen as unity as in the M e t e r
equation. The intersection of q = (No - q~)/2
with the eurve sketched through the data yields
zl/z = 1600 dyne/cm 2. The a s y m p t o t e for large
shear stress through z = "LI/2 and t / - 0oo =
qo qoo has a slope of 12/5.
The alternative form of eq. [13] was also tried
as illustrated in fig. 8. The uncertainty in the
location of the a s y m p t o t e for decreasing shear
stress is considerably greater than for increasing
shear stress with this set of data. The indicated
asymptote, which was necessarily located rather
arbitrarily, has a slope of 8/5 and yields a value
of ZA = 2150 dynes/cm 2. The corresponding
value o f n = ln2/ln(7440/4900) = 1.66 ~_ 5/3.

As noted above the same values of # and ~1/2

are necessarily obtained from eqs. [7] and-[13]
if n is chosen as 1.0. In the absence of this
information an a s y m p t o t e with a considerably
lesser slope would have p r o b a b l y been projected
from t/o - r/ = qo - r/~o and z = tl~2.
The curve representing eq. [7] with 0o = 7600
poise, t/o~ = 160 poise, fl = 8/3, rA = 1920 dynes/
Cm 2 and n = 3/4 is seen in fig. 5 to represent the
data over the entire range of as closely as
justified by their scatter. The curve representing
eq. [13] with fl = 8/5, rA = 2150 dynes/cm 2
and n = 5/3 is seen to differ only slightly on the
higher side. This discrepancy could be eliminated
by a slight adjustment of the constants. The
curve representing eqs. [7] and [13] with
B = 12/5, z A = 1600 dynes/cm 2 and n = 1.0
also appears to provide an acceptable correlation.
It is evident that plots in the form of figs. 6 and 8
provide a far m o r e critical test of the consistency
of the data and the success of the correlating

L4 /

i.#

!
'1.0

~/-16o
74z+0

7,+o J~lgzoJ

0.6

n =0.8

0.6
Q4

O.q
0.21

0.2

I
0.4

I
0.6

(T/1920) 8/3

0.8

1.0

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

(1920/r) s/3

0o.z

Fig. 7. Determination of n for 5% wt, 1800000 MW

polystyrene in Aroclor 1248

Churchill and Churchill, A 9eneral model for the effective viscosity of pseudoplastic and dilatant fluids

equations than fig. 5. The scatter and deviations

are effectively hidden by the logarithmic scale
and choice of ordinate in fig. 5. Fig. 7 provides
a still more critical test.
All three representations are considerably
better than achieved by Ashare (8) using the
Bird-Carreau (9) and Spri9gs (10) equations.
These latter expre~sions have however the
advantage of incorporating empirical constants
which are theoretically related to other rheological properties.

Other applieations
A number of other sets of data for the effective
viscosity have been examined and successfully
correlated by this procedure. The best value of
n has differed significantly from unity in all of
the cases which have been examined. In many
of these cases it has been possible to construct a
satisfactory, if poorer correlation, with n arbitrarily taken as unity as in the previously
proposed models. Eqs. [73 and [-13] can also
be used to construct correlations for the effective
viscosity as an explicit function of the rate of
shear rather than of the shear stress and for the
dynamic viscosity as a function of the frequency
of oscillation.

Conelusions
The model and alternative model proposed
herein are more general and less constrained
than previous models which have been proposed
or used for correlation of the effective viscosity
of pseudoplastic and dilatant fluids with the
shear stress.
These models are also adaptable for correlation of the effective viscosity directly with the
rate of shear and for correlation of the dynamic
viscosity with the frequency of oscillation.
The procedure proposed for evaluation of the
constants is straightforward and should yield
the previously proposed models if the data so
indicate. However, this degeneration has not
occurred in any of the sets of data which have
been examined.
Plots such as figs. 6, 7 and 8 provide a far
more critical test of the data and of the success
of the correlating equation than plots such as
fig. 5.
Insofar as eq. [-7] is a successful model, figs. 3

409

and 4 are general plots for all pseudoplastic and

dilatant fluids.
Acknowledgement

The assistance of Profs. Drs. L. VMclntire and W.E.

Forsman is greatly appreciated.
Summary

A new and very general expression is proposed for

correlation of data for the effective viscosity of pseudoplastic and dilatant fluids as a function of the shear
stress. Most of the models which have been proposed
previously are shown to be special cases of this expression. A straightforward procedure is outlined for
evaluation of the arbitrary constants.
Zusammetfassung

Eine neue und sehr allgemeine Formel wird fr die"

Korrelation der Werte der effektiven Viskositt von
strukturviskosen und dilatanten Flssigkeiten in Abhngigkeit von der Schubspannung vorgeschlagen.
Die meisten schon frher vorgeschlagenen Methoden
werden hier als Spezialflle dieser Gleichung gezeigt.
Ein einfaches Verfahren fr die Auswertung der
willkrlichen Konstanten wird beschrieben.

Referencs
1) Churchill, S. W. and R. Usagi, Amer. Inst. Chem.
Eng. J. 18, 1121-1128 (1972).
2) Meter, D. M., Ph. D. Thesis, Univ. of Wisconsin,
Madison, Wisconsin (1963).
3) Cross, M. M., J. Appl. Polymer Sci. 13, 765 774
(1969).
4) Frederickson, A. G., Principles and Applications
of Rheology, Prentice-Hall (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
1964).
5) Sisko, A. W., Ind. Eng. Chem. 50, 1789 1792
(1958).
6) Bird, R. B., Canad. J. Chem. Eng. 44, 161 168
(1965).
7) White, R. R. and S. W. Churehill, Amer. Inst.
Chem. Eng. J. 5, 354 360 (1959).
8) Ashare, E., Ph. D. Thesis, University of Wisconsin,
Madison, Wisconsin (1970).
9) Bird, R. B. and P. J. Carreau, Chem. Eng. Sci. 23,
427-434 {1968).
10) Spriggs, T. W., Chem. Eng. Sci. 20, 931-940
(1965).
Authors' addresses:
Prof. Dr. Stuart W. Churchill,
Depar{ment of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19174 (USA)
Renate U. Churchill
International Chemical Engineering
P. O. Box 627
Media, Pennsylvania, 19063 (USA)