Study of Lyotropic Liquid Crystals in Viscometric Flow and Elastohydrodynamic Contact

Abstract

Lyotropic liquid crystals of triethanolammonium oleate in several nonaqueous solvents were prepared and characterized. Their rheology and elastohydrodynamic contact behavior were investigated. Under the conditions studied, they are non-Newtonian, shear thinning fluids whose behavior up to shear rates of 2500 s⁻¹ can be described by a rheological equation.

In elastohydrodynamic contact, at high pressure/high shear, they had effective viscosities larger than would be predicted from their low shear rate behavior, perhaps due to a limiting shear stress condition. They behaved as homogeneous liquid crystalline fluids and, like greases, certain formulations exhibited a tendency to starve the contact.

Presented at the 42nd Annual Meeting in Anaheim, California, May 11–14, 1987

Notes

Presented at the 42nd Annual Meeting in Anaheim, California, May 11–14, 1987