Rheology of concentrated xanthan gum solutions: Oscillatory shear flow behavior

Using a strain-controlled rheometer, the dynamic viscoelastic properties of aqueous xanthan gum solutions with different concentrations were measured over a wide range of strain amplitudes and then the linear viscoelastic behavior in small amplitude oscillatory shear flow fields was investigated over a broad range of angular frequencies. In this article, both the strain amplitude and concentration dependencies of dynamic viscoelastic behavior were reported at full length from the experimental data obtained from strain-sweep tests. In addition, the linear viscoelastic behavior was explained in detail and the effects of angular frequency and concentration on this behavior were discussed using the well-known power-law type equations. Finally, a fractional derivative model originally developed by Ma and Barbosa-Canovas (1996) was employed to make a quantitative description of a linear viscoelastic behavior and then the applicability of this model was examined with a brief comment on its limitations. Main findings obtained from this study can be summarized as follows: (1) At strain amplitude range larger than 10%, the storage modulus shows a nonlinear strain-thinning behavior, indicating a decrease in storage modulus as an increase in strain amplitude. (2) At strain amplitude range larger than 80%, the loss modulus exhibits an exceptional nonlinear strain-overshoot behavior, indicating that the loss modulus is first increased up to a certain strain amplitude