I am a student of the department of rheology that is related to the study of the flow of matter. The scope of rheology encompasses substances that have complex structures. These substances may vary from muds, suspensions, polymers, sludges, foods, fluids, and other materials. The viscosity of the flow of these substances changes due to various factors. The viscosity levels as well as other data are gained by the use of rheology equipment.
The mechanical behavior of materials is determined with the application of product specific rheology instrument. This may include the molecular size, size and structure of polymers in solution or particle size distribution. Forces and stresses are the factors that govern the mechanical behavior and these factors are calculated via rheology equipment.
The rheologist unlike me studies the flow of complex liquids including deformation of soft solids. A rheologist should be an expert either in or combination of mathematics, engineering, physical sciences, medicine, material technology, food technology, etc. But whatever the expertise, conclusions are drawn utilizing the right rheology instrument as per the area of concern. Mine is a short term course, but during the course, I have learned a lot and it is really an exciting subject.
Rheology equipment is used in various sectors ranging from engineering, geophysics to physiology and pharmaceutics. While surfing the Internet, I came across a company called Aimil that supplies a wide range of rheology instrument. I also found a host of other companies that manufactures and supplies rheology equipment in its widest varieties.
