International Science and Technology Conference, Famagusta, October 27-29 2010

Micro scale cone-plate viscometer with slip flow

Khaled M. Bataineh*, Mohammed al Rabaei
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid- Jordan

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a theoretical and numerical analyses of a micro scale cone and plate viscometer with slip flow.
Assuming the flow is purely unidirectional, a closed form solution of a viscous fluid flow between rotating cone and
stationary plate is presented. The continuity and Navier-Stokes equations in spherical coordinates are solved to
obtain the velocity profile within the micro viscometer. The Navier’s slip conditions are applied to all fluid/solid
interfacial boundary conditions of the device. Previous investigations on the cone and plate viscometers focused on
their hydrodynamics behavior at macro scale level and they did not consider the slip conditions at the solid-fluid
interfacial boundary. The assumption of the unidirectional flow is not in general true. Numerical solution using
finite volume is used to simulate the flow patterns in cone and plate viscometer and to verify the unidirectional flow

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assumptions. Numerical investigations show that the flow in these devices is not unidirectional and noticeable
secondary flows are sometimes present. Geometric and flow parameters are numerically studied to determine their
influence on secondary flow. The slip coefficients are found to be major parameters that affect the behavior of the

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micro-scale viscometer. The theoretical model that simulates the hydrodynamics behavior of the micro viscometer
has been verified by comparing its predictions with that of the macro viscometer after neglecting the slip conditions.

Keywords Microfluidics, Microchannel flow, cone and plate viscometer, Slip flow, Analytical solution

Nomenclature
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* Corresponding author: Tel. +962 2 7201000 Ext. 22383; Fax. +962 2 7201074
E-mail address: (Khaled M. Bataineh) k.bataineh@just.edu.jo

Kn Knudsen number Greek symbols

T Torque, N.m β slip coefficient
C
p pressure, Pa μ dynamic viscosity, N.s/m2
r radial coordinate, m τ shear stress, Pa
R radius of plate, m τθΦ swirl shear stress, Pa
Re..............Reynolds Number ρ fluid density, kg/m3
TE

vΦ swirl velocity, m/s ψ0 cone angle ( rad)

vr radial velocity, m/s Ω rotational speed, rad/s
vθ tangential velocity, m/s
IS

INTRODUCTION

In many applications, the viscosity coefficient must be determined but sometimes only a little amount of the sample
is available. These applications are found in clinical and biomedical laboratories. Traditionally, many devices have
been developed to measure the viscosity of fluids (Bird et al., 1987). However, most of these devices require
significant amount of liquid to determine its viscosity. To overcome this limitation, the viscometer must be
miniaturized. Van der Heyden et al. (2003) presented a design for a micromachined differential viscometer that is
suitable for integration into a planar hydrodynamic chromatography system (HDC) for polymer analysis. They
utilized pressure sensor integrated into the viscosity detector to measure viscosity of ethanol and water. Lin et al.
(2006) used the liquid velocity gradient in the channel to determining the viscosity coefficient of 10 μl liquid. They
adopted electro wetting on dielectric (EWOD) to drive liquids.
Moon et al. (2009) developed two direct methods to simultaneously measure the dynamic capillary pressure and the
viscosity of fluids by application of differential forces during flow into micro-channels. Petrak et al.(2009 )
described an experimental method that is capable of measuring liquid flows of the order of milliliters per hour. They
applied stripe model of the two-dimensional micro-channel flow to determine viscosity function. O'Neill et al. (1996)

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 International Science and Technology Conference, Famagusta, October 27-29 2010

described the development of a high shear rate, high pressure microviscometer. This viscometer was developed
specifically to examine a highly loaded, dynamic contact generated in a small volume of fluid. Chandrasekar et al.
(2010) investigated experimentally and determined theoretically the effective thermal conductivity and viscosity of
Al2O3/H2O nanofluid using commercially available cone and plate viscometer.

At macro scale, cone and plate viscometers receive significant attention by many researchers. A viscometer consists
of cone and plate has been suggested first by Mooney and Ewart (1934). Russell (1946) used cone-plate geometry
for normal stress measurements. His studies eventually led to the development of the Wiesenberger rheogoniometer.
In addition, his study also led to development of the Ferranti Shirley instrument. Bird et al. (1962) derived
approximately the temperature rise resulting from viscous dissipation in the fluid in a cone and plate viscometer
using variational method. Cheng (1968) investigated the effect of secondary flow on the viscosity measurement
using the cone-and-plate viscometer. His Experimental data for Newtonian liquids show that a theoretical result of
Walters and Waters (1967) satisfactorily predicts the conditions at which the effect of secondary flow becomes
appreciable. Petera and Nassehi (1995) used finite element modeling technique for the improvement of viscometry
results obtained by cone-and-plate rheometers. Their results of investigation showed that the flow in these

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measurements is not unidirectional and noticeable secondary flows are sometimes present. Today the cone and plate
with its constant rate of shear and direct measurement is probably the most popular rotational geometry for studying
both Newtonian and non-Newtonian effects.

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It has been well documented from results from molecular dynamics simulations and experiments that the effect of
deviation from the traditional no-slip assumption becomes pronounced when the size of the device goes down to
microns and below. The amount of slip can be quantized by the slip length which is the notional distance inside the

20
surface at which the velocity equals to zero (Spikes et al. 2003). Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations show that
slip can occur only when wall shear stress is reached a critical value. Also MD simulations show that there exists a
general relationship (linear or non-linear given by different results) between the slip length and the local shear rate at
a solid surface (Thompson, 1997). Slip length depends on the interactional parameters between solid and fluid shear
stress, wetting properties, fluid properties (e.g. viscosity and density) and interfacial roughness (Spikes et al. 2003,
Thompson, 1997, cottin-Bizonne 2003). Slip velocities on both hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces have been
experimentally studied using a variety of techniques. Slip lengths are reported to vary from about 20 nm (Arkilic
1997) to as high as 1 mm (Watanable et al. 1999, Choi et al, 2003).
C
There is an important assumption in deriving the cone and plate equation in macro scale: that the flow regime inside
the rheometer is purely unidirectional and isothermal. Also it is assumed that the free surface is spherical and the
velocity field is maintained up to the edge. Such assumptions are not in general true. Adams and Lodge (1964)
TE

discussed the consequences of these double assumptions. The effect of liquid outside the gap on normal stresses can
be seen if careful investigation at the data of Olabisi and Williams (1972). Also, they found some experimental
agreement with Tanner’s equations (1970). Turian’s (1965) secondary flow analysis ignores the free surface. The
objective of this study is to provide a closed form solution for the hydrodynamics of a micro scale cone and plate
viscometer. Also to investigate the effects of various parameters on the device. Further objective is to study various
factors which giving rise to secondary flows. Due to the complexity of the phenomena a direct experimental
measurement is not possible. The numerical solution, once verified, can be used to estimate the viscometry errors
IS

resulting from simplified solution of rotating cone viscomter.

THEORY

Figure 1 shows schematic of the cone and plate viscometer. The viscometer consists of a stationary cylindrical plate
of radius R, and a cone rotating with velocity Ω. The main objective of this theoretical investigation is to determine
a formula that gives the viscosity of the fluid in terms of torque, angular velocity Ω, and other various parameters.

The cone is assumed to make a small angle Ψ0 which

is less than 0.10 rad. The flow is laminar and this
assumption is practical at micro scale level because
Reynolds number is usually small due to the very
small gap and plate diameter. Also, the fluid is
Newtonian and Kn falls within the continuum

517

T
 International Science and Technology Conference, Famagusta, October 27-29 2010

approach with slip boundary conditions. Spherical coordinate system will be applied. The flow is assumed to be
steady, isothermal. For small angle, change in the velocity gradient in the r-direction& θ-direction can be neglected.
Also, radial velocity component vr and tangential velocity component vθ are zeros.

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Fig. 1 Schematic of cone and plate viscometer

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From the previous assumptions the only non-vanish velocity component is vΦ. The adapted boundary conditions at
the solid-fluid interface are Navier’s slip condition (Navier, 1823, gad-el-Hak et al., 2002, Bataineh, et al., 2009)
which is nowadays the most commonly used concept to quantify the slip of a liquid at a solid surface:
At the cylindrical plate surface,

(1)
At the cone surface,
⎛π ⎞
⎝2⎠
∂v
vφ ⎜ ⎟ = 0 ± β φ
∂θ
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π
2

⎛π ⎞ ∂v
vφ ⎜ −ψ 0 ⎟ = Ωr ± β φ
C
⎝2 ⎠ ∂θ
⎛π ⎞
⎜ −ψ 0 ⎟
⎝2 ⎠

(2)
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Neglecting body force, applying the assumptions discussed early, the equations of motion reduce to:

r:
ρvφ2
=
( )
1 ∂ r 2τ rr τ θθ + τ φφ
−
r r 2 ∂r r
(3)
1 ∂ (τ θθ sin θ ) cot θτ θθ
θ: 0= −
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r sin θ ∂θ r
(4)

1 ∂ (τ θφ sin θ ) 2
0= + cot θτ θφ
r sin θ ∂θ r
(5)
π π
But for small Ψ0, θ varies from − ψ 0 , sin θ ≈ 1 , this will further simplify Eq. (5 ) to
to
2 2
1 ∂ (τ θφ ) 2
0= + cot θτ θφ
r ∂θ r
(6)
And substituting shear stress for a Newtonian fluid:

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 International Science and Technology Conference, Famagusta, October 27-29 2010

1 ∂vφ
τ θφ = − μ
r ∂θ
(7)
Now, integrate Eq. (6) to obtain the shear stress distribution as:
c1
τ θφ =
sin 2 θ
(8)
Substitute Eq. (7) into Eq. (8) result in
1 ∂vφ c
−μ = 12
r ∂θ sin θ
(9)
Integrate Eq. (9)
c1r

0
vφ = cot θ + c2
μ
(10)

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The two unknowns C1 and C2 are evaluated using Eqs. (1) and (2).
⎛ 2β ⎞ Ωμ
c1 = ⎜⎜1 − ⎟⎟
⎝ ψ0 ⎠ ψ0
(11)

(12)
c2 =
βΩr
ψ0
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Substitute Eqs. (11, 12) into Eq. (10) yields to
Ωr ⎡⎛ 2 β ⎞⎛ π ⎤
vφ = ⎢⎜⎜1 − ⎟⎟⎜ − θ ⎞⎟ + β ⎥
C
ψ ⎣⎝ ψ 0 ⎠⎝ 2 ⎠ ⎦
(13)
Now, the shear stress distribution is:
TE

μΩ ⎛ 2 β ⎞
τ θφ = ⎜1 − ⎟
ψ 0 ⎜⎝ ψ 0 ⎟⎠
(14)
The torque balance on the plate is defined as:
2π R

∫ ∫ τ θφ r dφdr
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T= 2

0 0
(15)
Perform the above integration yields to:
2πΩR 3 ⎛ 2 β ⎞
T= ⎜1 − ⎟⎟
3ψ 0 ⎜⎝ ψ 0 ⎠
(16)
3ψ 0T
μ=
⎛ 2β ⎞
2πΩR 3 ⎜⎜1 − ⎟⎟
⎝ ψ0 ⎠
(17)
This formula (with β = 0) is identical to that obtained for the macro viscometer.

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 International Science and Technology Conference, Famagusta, October 27-29 2010

NNMERICAL SOLUTION

Without imposing the assumptions discussed earlier, it is difficult to obtain analytical results using governing
equations. Hence numerical simulations become an effective method to predict the conditions for existence of
secondary flow. Also, it offers a deeper insight about the flow structure. The commercial available finite volume
software FLUENT is used in this study to simulate the flow behavior of cone and plate viscometer. The 2-D
axisymmteric Navier –Stokes equations were numerically solved. In all numerical simulations, the cone angle is set
equal to 5 degree. Three values of plate radius is studied, 5 cm,2.5 cm and 0.1 cm. The rotational speed is varied.
The numerical solutions are compared with the primary flow theoretical formula in Fig. 2 by plotting T/T0 vs. Re.
Where
ρΩϕ 0 2 R 2
Re =
μ
2πμR 3

0
T0 =
3ψ 0
(18)

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Figure 2. shows that the existence of secondary flow which leads to an increase the cone torque. This becomes
appreciable for Re > 10. Also numerical solution (not shown) indicated a decrease in plate torque due to secondary
flow. Previously published torque correction formula is also plotted in Fig. 2. A better torque correction formula in

(19)
3
T0
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terms of Reynolds number is obtained and plotted.
T
= 0.0001 Re 2 + 0.0097 Re+ 0.9737

R=5 cm
R=2.5 cm
C
2.5 R=0.1 cm
Turian 11972
Ellenberger and Fortuin (1985)
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Torque correction formula

2
M/M0

1.5
IS

0.5
0.1 1 10 100
Re
Fig. 2 comparison with numerical solution with previously published and present torque correction
formula

CONCLUSION

A simplified analytical solution is provided for the flow of a viscous fluid within rotating cone and plate micro
viscometer. A first order velocity slip boundary condition is applied to all fluid/solid interfacial boundary conditions.

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 International Science and Technology Conference, Famagusta, October 27-29 2010

A closed form formula that gives the viscosity of the fluid has been derived. Slip coefficients affect the
hydrodynamics behavior of the micro viscometer. Numerical solution is compared against primary flow analytical
solution. Numerical solutions are found to be incompatible with the theoretical formula. Torque values on the plates
are different from those on the cone surface. This is due to the existence of secondary flow. Increasing Reynolds
number and increasing the cone angle Leads to significant effect of secondary flow. Numerical solution indicates a
decrease in the plate torque values due to secondary flow effects. A better torque correction formula is obtained.

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