Experimental methods for making quantitative measurements of velocity fields in non-Newtonian fluids are reviewed. Techniques based on light scattering spectroscopy - laser Doppler velocimetry and homodyne light scattering spectroscopy, techniques based on imaging the displacement of markers - including particle image velocimetry and molecular tagging velocimetry, and techniques based on nuclear magnetic resonance imaging are discussed. The special advantages and disadvantages of each method are summarized, and their applications to non-Newtonian flows are briefly reviewed. Example data from each technique are also included.

Residual stress distribution in injection molded short fiber composites is determined by using the layer-removal method. Polystyrene is mixed with carbon fibers of 3% volume fraction (4.5% weight fraction) in an extruder and the tensile specimen is injection-molded. The layer-removal process, in which removing successive thin uniform layers of the material from the surface of the specimen by a milling machine, is employed and the resulting curvature is acquired by means of an image processing. The isotropic elastic analysis proposed by Treuting and Read which assumes a constant Yaung’s modulus in the thickness direction is one of the most frequently used methods to determine residual stresses. However, injection molded short fiber composites experience complex fiber orientation during molding and variation of Yaung’s modulus distribution occurs in the specimen. In this study, variation of Yaung’s modulus with respect to the thickness direction is considered for calculation of the residual stresses as proposed by White and the result is compared with that by assuming constant modulus. Residual stress distribution obtained from this study shows a typical stress profile of injection-molded products as reported in many literatures. Young’s modulus distribution is predicted by using numerical methods instead of experimental results. For the numerical analysis of injection molding process, a hybrid FEM/FDM method is used in order to predict velocity, temperature field, fiber orientation, and resulting mechanical properties of the specimen at the end of molding.

In this paper, a rheo-optical methodology based on small angle light scattering and polarimetry is applied to investigate in-situ and on a time resolved basis the flow-induced structures in aqueous biopolymeric blends. Water-dextran-gelatin is chosen as an example. It is verified to what extent the laws and scaling relations, originally developed for synthetic polymer blends, are valid for the morphology development in this aqueous biopolymeric mixture. It was observed that under low shear rate conditions, the biopolymeric emulsion can be regarded as a conventional emulsion. However, at high shear rates flow induced homogenization occurs.

A series of thermoplastic polymers and their blends were melt-processed with high intensity ultrasonic wave in an intensive mixer. For the effective transfer of ultrasonic energy, an experimental apparatus was specially designed so that polymer melt can directly contact with ultrasonic horn. It was observed that significant variations in the rheological properties of polymers occur due to the unique action of ultrasonic wave without any aid of chemical additives. It was also found that the direct sonication on immiscible polymer blends in melt state reduces the domain sizes considerably and stabilizes the phase morphology of the blends. The degree of compatibilization was strongly affected by viscosity ratio of the components and the morphology was stable after annealing in properly compatibilized blends. It is suggested that ultrasound assisted melt mixing can lead to in-situ copolymer formation between the components and consequently provide an effective route to compatibilize immiscible polymer blends.

A cationic surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium $\rho$-toluenesufonate (CTA$\rho$TS), forms long threadlike micelles in aqueous solution. The threadlike micelles make concentrated entanglement networks, so that the solution shows pronounced viscoelastic behavior as concentrated polymer systems do. However, a mechanism for a process responsible for the longest relaxation time of the threadlike micellar system is different from that of semi-dilute to concentrated polymer systems. The threadlike micellar system exhibits unique viscoelasticity described by a Maxwell model. The longest relaxation time of the threadlike micellar system is not a function of the concentration of CTA$\rho$TS, but changes with that of $\rho$-toluenesufonate ($\rho$$TS^{-}$) ions in the bulk aqueous phase supplied by adding sodium $\rho$-toluenesulfonate (NapTS). The rates of molecular motions in the threadlike micelles are not influenced by the concentration of $\rho$$TS^{-}$ anions, therefore, molecular motions in the threadlike micelles (micro-dynamics) are independent of the longest relaxation mechanism (macro-dynamics). A nonionic surfactant, oleyldimethylamineoxide (ODAO), forms long threadlike micelles in aqueous solution without any additives. The aqueous threadlike micellar system of ODAO also shows Maxwell type viscoelastic behavior. However, the relaxation mechanism for the longest relaxation process in the system should be different from that in the threadlike micellar systems of CTA$\rho$TS, since the system of ODAO does not contain additive anions. Because increase in the average degree of protonation of head groups of ODAO molecules in micelles due to adding hydrogen bromide causes the relaxation time remarkably longer, changes in micro-structure and micro-dynamics in the threadlike micelle are closely related to macro-dynamics in contrast with the threadlike micellar system of CTA$\rho$TS.