Honors Theses
Date of Award
2014
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Physics and Astronomy
First Advisor
Josh Gladden
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Wormlike micellar fluids form by the self-aggregation of surfactant molecules in aqueous solution. These non-Newtonian fluids have been well studied and are used in the oil industry, hydraulics, and medical research. However, little is known regarding the structure of the three-dimensional networks in which the worms become entangled and possibly branched, especially at high concentrations. What is known is that this composition results in two distinctive fluid characteristics: viscoelasticity and strain-birefringence. The latter is exploited in this work in order to study the shear wave speed and attenuation in 500/300mM CTAB/NaSal fluid. Three different experiments were conducted using either a laser/diode system or a camera/backlight system. The average speed of a shear wave in wormlike micellar fluid was determined to be 63.47cm/s for this concentration at room temperature with no consistent effect from aging. Temperature, however, had a significant impact. Around 35oC, there was a dramatic drop in shear speed. The steady linear decrease in micelle length with increasing temperature does not account for this steep decline. A possible explanation is that the micelle conformation changes at this point—a topological phase transition. It is recommended that the rheology around this temperature be examined.
Recommended Citation
Crim, Rachel B., "Shear Waves in Highly Concentrated Viscoelastic Wormlike Micellar Fluid" (2014). Honors Theses. 770.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/770
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