The Rheology Zoo is an educational effort to accelerate understanding of rheology and non-Newtonian fluids. This includes
1. This website with information and videos (including videos curated from around the world)
2. In-person demonstrations and presentations (materials on display in our lab and outreach program created by our group; some photos below)
Rheology and non-Newtonian fluids
These four key phenomena of rheology are different ways to be “non-Newtonian”:
- Viscoelasticity (e.g. Silly Putty)
- Shear-thinning (e.g. hair gel) and shear-thickening (e.g. cornstarch in water)
- Extensional thickening
- Rod climbing
Videos
1. Viscoelasticity
A bouncing ball of a viscoelastic material, PVA-Borax (credit: UIUC)
Note the high levels of typical fluid-like wobbling (viscous), yet the ability to hold a definite shape (elastic), a characteristic of viscoelastic materials.
2. Shear-thinning
see also: This video (ETH-Zürich)
3. Extensional thickening (“open siphon effect”)
see also: This post (FYFD), This video (ETH-Zürich)
4. Rod climbing (“Weissenberg effect”)
see also: This post (FYFD), This video (ETH-Zürich)
Other phenomena:
Particle chaining in viscoelastic liquid (concentrated soap solution with particles) (credit: ETH-Zürich)
Yielding of 2D colloidal network (credit: ETH-Zürich)
Mystic smoke: the rheology of magic (credit: UIUC)
Impacts on a screen (credit: UIUC)
In-person demonstrations
Other resources:
Ewoldt Research Group YouTube Channel
ETH Zürich Soft Materials Group YouTube Channel (Prof. Dr. Jan Vermant)
U Mass Amherst Non-Newtonian Fluid Dynamics Lab Outreach (Prof. Jonathan Rothstein, with support from the AIP Venture Fund and The Society of Rheology)
FY Fluid Dynamics: celebrating the physics of all that flows
Gallery of Rheology (sponsored by The Society of Rheology)