Polymer Rheology and Processing Laboratory

Director: Michael E. Ryan

The Polymer Rheology and Processing Laboratory is concerned with the characterization of the flow behavior of rheologically complex fluids, including polymer solutions, polymer melts, filled systems, suspensions, emulsions, and reactive systems. Various instruments are available for the measurement of material properties relevant to these systems as a function of shear rate, time, and temperature.

At this lab, instrumented equipment for studying the processing behavior of molten polymers includes injection molding, blow molding, extrusion, and thermoforming equipment. Fundamental studies related to non-Newtonian fluid mechanics and the behavior of bubbles, drops, and solid particles in non-Newtonian fluids are also conducted here.