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Cambridge Shear Cell
The Cambridge Shear Cell (CSS) was a product of the 1980s. One of my first PhD students, Diane Graziano, was given the task of developing with me an optical shearing rig that could be used to study the then recently discovered Polymer Liquid Crystals. A Cambridge Technician within the Department of Chemical Engineering, Alan Butcher, helped us design and build two prototypes before a successful unit was achieved and one of the Polymer Fluids Group Post Doctorals, Tim Nicholson provided software. The first paper on optical images from the CSS were published in
D.J.Graziano and M.R. Mackley.
Disclinations observed during the shear of MBBA.
Mol. Cryst. and Liquid Cryst. 106(1/2), 73 (1984).
Subsequently, Arnold Kamp, who was the director of a company Linkam Scientific, offered to commercialise the instrument and Linkam took over the design. Since the mid 1980s until now, several hundred CSS’s have been manufactured by Linkam and the design itself has steadily evolved and been improved. To link with Linkam; go to www.linkam.co.uk/css450-features/
Below is a movie clip example of how applied shear using the CSS can reveal in this case, unexpected behaviour for an initial dispersion of carbon nanotube aggregates. This astonishing video was taken by Anson Ma. You need to be patient and watch the development of a “helical banding” microstructure develop from initially random clusters of CNT aggregates. The thickness of the field of view is about 50 microns and shear is applied by the relative movement of the bottom plate with respect to a fixed top plate.
Carbon Nanotube (CNT) aggregate Helical banding. Anson Ma 2005.
Papers relevant to the Cambridge Shear System (CSS)
- D.J.Graziano and M.R. Mackley.
Disclinations observed during the shear of MBBA.
Mol. Cryst. and Liquid Cryst. 106(1/2), 73 (1984). - D.J.Graziano and M.R. Mackley.
Shear induced optical texture’s and their relaxation behaviour in thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers.
Mol. Cryst. and Liquid Cryst.. 106(1/2), 103 (1984). - N.A.Alderman and M.R. Mackley. Optical textures observed during the shearing of thermotropic liquid crystal polymers. Faraday Discussion Chem. Soc. 79, paper 12 (1985).
- M.R.Mackley.
The rheology and micro structure of flowing thermotropic liquid crystal polymers. Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. 153, 249-261 (1987). - T.M.Nicholson, M.R. Mackley and A.H. Windle. Shear induced crystallization in a liquid crystalline random copolyester. Polymer. 33, 2, 434-435 (1992).
- L.Gervat., M.R.Mackley,T.M.Nicholson and A.H.Windle. The effect of shear on thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers. Phil Trans Roy Soc ( Lond).350, 1- 27 (1995).
- C. Bower, M.R.Mackley, B.A.S.Smeulders, D.Barker and J.Hayes.
The rheology, processing and microstructure of complex fluids.
In Modern aspects of Colloid Dispersions.
Ed R.H.Ottewill & A.R.Rennie. Kluwer pub 279-289 (1998). - R.M de Roeck & M.R.Mackley. The rheology and microstructure of equine blood. Dynamics of Complex Fluids. ed M.J.Adams,
- R.A.Mashelkhar, J.R.A.Pearson &A.R.Rennie. Imperial College Press. 339-345 (1998).
- M.R.Mackley, S Wannaborworn, P Gao and F Zhao. The optical microscopy of sheared liquids using a newly developed optical stage.
Microscopy and Analysis. 69, 25-29 (1999). - C. Bower, C Gallegos, M.R.Mackley & J.M.Madiedo The rheological and microstructural characterisation of the non linear flow behaviour of concentrated oil-in-water emulsions Rheol Acta 38 145-159 (1999).
- S. Wannaborworn, M. R. Mackley & Y. Renardy Experimental observation and matching numerical simulation for the deformation and break up of immiscible drops in oscillatory shear. Journal of Rheology 46,5. 1279-1294 (2002)
- S. Sonwai and M.R. Mackley The Effect of Shear on the Crystallization of Cocoa Butter. Journal of American Oil Chemists Society. JAOCS 83(7), 583-596 (2006)
- S. S. Rahatekar, K. K. K. Koziol, S. A. Butler, J. A. Elliott, M. S. P. Shaffer, M. R. Mackley, and A. H. Windle Optical microstructure and viscosity enhancement for an epoxy resin matrix containing multiwall carbon nanotubes Journal of Rheology, V50,5. 599-610 (2006)
- A. Ma and M.R.Mackley. Experimental observation on the flow-induced assembly of Carbon nanotube suspensions to form helical bands. Rheo Acta. Vol 46, Nos 7 979-987 (2007)
- A. W. K. Ma , M. R. Mackley & F. Chinesta The microstructure and rheology of carbon nanotube suspensions Int J Mater Form 1, 75–81 (2008)
- K. M. Yearsley, M. R. Mackley, F. Chinesta, A. Leygue The rheology of multi-walled carbon nanotube and carbon black suspensions J. Rheology. 56, 1465- 1490 (2012)
- V. O. Adesanya, D. C. Vadillo, and M. R. Mackley The rheological characterisation of algae suspensions for the production of biofuels J. Rheology. 56, 925- 940 (2012)
- M.R.Mackley. Inventing and Developing Scientific Apparatus .British Society of Rheology Bulletin 53, 3 68-80 December (2012)