Yield Stress of Emulsions and Suspensions as Measured in Steady Shearing and in Oscillations

The yield stresses of five samples (two highly concentrated emulsions, two Kaolin dispersions and mayonnaise) were determined in two ways. In one case, steady shear experiments were performed over a range of incrementally decreasing shear rates. The resulting flow curves, plotted as shear stress against shear rate, clearly showed the existence of a yield stress for each sample, the Herschel-Bulkley model being fitted to obtain values. In the second case, oscillatory amplitude sweeps were performed at three frequencies, and the “dynamic yield stress” was defined as the stress at which deviation from linearity occurred; this procedure has often been used to determine the yield stress of emulsions. It was found that the dynamic yield stress is frequency dependent, and cannot therefore be thought of as physically meaningful material property. At no frequency did the dynamic yield stress correlate with the yield stress obtained from the flow curves.