YIELDGAP · YIELD-stress fluids beyond Bingham - closing the GAP in modelling real-world yield-stress materials

YIELD-stress fluids beyond Bingham - closing the GAP in modelling real-world yield-stress materials

Combining clean environment with an economic growth in EU requires more efficient industrial processes. It is impossible to design cost-and resource-efficient yet safe processes and products, without measuring and predicting the flow behaviour of the materials that are processed. It is hence crucial to assist with a better characterization, modelling, formulation and processing of yield-stress fluids (YSFs) as well as understanding the role of additives (masterbatches, particles), to help the growth of both traditional and new key emerging industries in EU. Yield-stress fluids flow when a high-enough stress is applied to them, but behave as rigid or deformable solids otherwise. The force or stress required to initiate their flow along with their deformation history plays a significant role in the production, storage, transfer, packaging, and end-use performance of yield-stress materials. Examples of EU industries that are producing YSFs are: printing (ink), health care (e.g. pharmaceutics, toothpaste), building industry (concrete, paint, plaster, mortar), cosmetics (foams, creams and oils), food processing (numerous products, e.g. mayonnaise, peanut butter and chocolate), oil and gas (oils and mud drillings to be transported in pipelines). Moreover, our ability to predict and handle common natural disasters of great societal and environmental impact for the EU, such as mud slides, lava flows and avalanches, are associated with the yielding behaviour of this type of material. Despite the abundance of yield-stress materials in industrial and natural processes, existing practices cannot predict even basic characteristics such as the minimal pressure drop needed to start a flow. A patchwork of approaches exists for modelling flows of YSFs, across different industries and academia, and there is no consensus to which models or measurements apply in which situations. Hence, the challenge of predicting the flows of YSFs cannot be solved by single research groups or existing networks, which focus on only a particular sector or aspect. YIELDGAP is a new multidisciplinary network aiming to (i) establish a coherent and efficient approach for the prediction of YSM flow in Europe, (ii) gather a sufficient database of material properties, models, computer simulations and measurements in order to develop new models and methods and establish guidelines for best practice, and (iii) consolidate the world-leading networks of scientific expertise which are necessary for solving these challenging issues, and (iv) to train a new generation of researchers who will apply the techniques across industrial sectors and academia in the EU in the coming years.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union