Abstract
A modified version of the commercially available RheOptiCAD® was developed to visualize the microscopic structural changes occurring in concentrated suspensions, such as the break-up of flocs in clay suspensions, under shearing action. This is made possible by replacing the inverted microscope used in the traditional RheOptiCAD® set-up by an upright modular microscope equipped with a CMOS camera and epi-illumination. Our device retains the following features of the previous version of RheOptiCAD®: [i] uniaxial translational motion of two parallel plates, [ii] three modes of shear straining, [iii] controlled thermal environment, and [iv] vacuum joining of microscopy glass slides. The validation of the new design was done using a model system of un-flocculated and flocculated kaolin suspensions and concentrated natural mud suspension. The results showed that the constructed device is a promising tool for studying, from fundamental and industrial perspectives, the microstructural behaviour of complex suspended systems under controlled thermal and mechanical conditions.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 391-399 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Measurement: Journal of the International Measurement Confederation |
Volume | 145 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Accepted Author ManuscriptKeywords
- Optical microscope
- Rheo-optics
- Shearing cell
- Strain-controlled
- Suspensions