Rheology

What is rheology anyway? Rheology studies the flow of unusual materials, particularly non Newtonian fluids such as mayonnaise, paint, molten plastics, and more. In practice, rheology is principally concerned with extending the classical disciplines of elasticity and (Newtonian) fluid mechanics to materials whose mechanical behaviour cannot be described with the classical theories. Rheology can be a daunting subject and getting meaningful results out of rheometers and viscometers can often be challenging. Rheology is the study of the deformation and flow of matter under the influence of an applied stress.