Rheology Lab – Centre for Industrial Rheology
Making Rheology Easy, Accessible and Economical
The Centre for Industrial Rheology provides sample testing, research and investigations using rheology and viscosity measurements, interfacial rheology measurements, powder flow, tribology (lubrication and friction) and texture analysis techniques to provide our clients with:
- Competitor analysis and market benchmarking
- Establishing a specification: “this is exactly how we want it”.
- Identify the impact of ingredient choices or process variables on final product rheology.
- Understanding the extent and timescale of viscosity build following manufacture.
- Scale up, technology transfer and contractor set-up issues.
- Stability: Assessing robustness and recovery from thermal and mechanical stresses.
- Pumpability: Obtain viscosity and rheology profiles for specifying pump requirements
- Predicting pumping and filling issues.
- Choosing the right packaging for dose delivery.
- Profiling a coating process.
The Centre for Industrial Rheology was founded by Neil Cunningham in 2012. Neil is a highly experienced consultant in the application of rheology and viscosity testing techniques for commercial research and development, process design and quality control.
Since starting in the field in 1995, and becoming an independent consultant in 1998, he has successfully carved a niche consulting for the world’s leading manufacturers and has trained and advised an estimated three thousand scientific personnel in the principles and practical application of rheology and viscosity testing. Over that time he has gained an intimate knowledge of the most popular rheometers and viscometers in the marketplace as well as a unique breadth of understanding of the needs of industries from pharmaceuticals and consumer healthcare products to foods, cosmetics and industrial coatings and adhesives.
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Rheology Testing Lab and Test Services
For products such as coatings, foods, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and building materials a knowledge of rheological properties offers instant insight into otherwise hidden attributes that contribute to their processing, handling, stability, texture and performance.
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Viscosity Testing Lab
Our lab can perform viscosity measurements across a range of temperatures and shear conditions relevant to your needs, delivering viscosity values in units of centiPoise (cP or “cps”) or milliPascal seconds (mPa.s). On completion of testing you will receive a full report.
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Coefficient of Friction Testing Service
We provide a friction testing service for characterising the ‘static’ and ‘kinetic’ coefficients of friction of plastic film and sheeting. The sled-plane method can also act as a useful starting point for customised methods for investigating or measuring friction force in a number of applications.
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Tribology Testing Services
Our soft tribology test can provide comparisons of lubricity / “slipperiness” in a soft contact situation, similar to skin on skin contact processes such as spreading a topical product onto your skin, or sensing the texture properties of a soft material in the mouth.
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High Temperature Rheology Characterisation Service
High-temperature rheology measurements are useful for materials such as oils, plastics, resins, greases, and binders or to characterise the behaviour of feedstock in high-temperature industrial processes such as cooking, pasteurisation or any thermally accelerated chemical reaction.
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Powder Rheology and Powder Flow Testing Services
Powder rheology and flow testing methods can provide a range of insights into predicting whether a powder will cake, flow, crumble, bridge / arch or rathole.
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Powder Wettability Testing
Powder wettability measurements are vital for predicting or understanding the interaction between a powder and liquid in several key processes.
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Contact Angle Testing/Analysis
Contact angle measurements are typically used to measure the wettability of a known surface through the use of drops from various liquids under test. Alternatively, by applying known liquids to an unknown material, the surface energy of that material can be quantified.
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Interfacial & Surface Tension Testing Services
We can provide measurements of surface tension and hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity of a surface or liquid as a function of time and/or temperature. On completion of our testing you will receive a full written report with graphical and numerical results and explanatory notes.
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Dynamic Foam Analysis
Dynamic Foam Analysis can be used to determine important properties of foams such as liquid drainage, foam height and volume and changes in bubble size, all of which are direct indicators of foam stability.
