Splash of an Elastic Liquid as a Rheological Test of Polymer Solutions

The pulse radial outflow from a gap between two rapidly approaching disks is used to study the rheological properties of elastic liquids under the extremum-strain regime (high strain rate and stretching degree). The theoretical description for the radial outflow of a liquid is constructed within the framework of the viscoelastic rheological model. Experiments on the high-velocity throwing of the aqueous solutions of high-molecular-mass poly(ethylene oxide) with concentrations of 1, 2, and 4% are performed. A comparison of the theoretical predictions with the experimental data makes it possible to determine the rheological characteristics of liquids under the extremum-strain conditions. It is found that at high strain rates the elastic modulus grows considerably, while the relaxation time decreases.