USV (Ultra Shear Viscometer)
/ Operation

Running a Test with the USV

The USV software turns test preparation into a simple and fast procedure. Once the user has chosen the desired shear rate(s) and temperature(s), it takes only a few minutes to flush the current sample with the new one. The test is then ready to begin, with no user intervention required. As the measurements are logged, the viscosity results are plotted onto a graph with a series of smart options.

From selecting the measurements to analysing them, the procedure can be divided into 4 steps:

1 . Building a profile

A profile is the list of temperatures and shear rates at which the user wants to take measurements. With the user-friendly profile builder integrated to the software, it takes a few seconds to create a new profile. Profiles can be saved and re-loaded for modification. The view below shows an example of a profile comprising 20 measurements: 10 shear rates at two temperatures.

USV Screenshot

2 . Flushing the test sample

During the flushing procedure, the test chamber is heated up and the user is asked to pipette 0.5 ml of oil into the chamber. The oil is flushed automatically by oscillating the stator up and down and spinning the rotor. The procedure is repeated a number times to ensure complete flushing of the test sample.

Stator moving up and down to flush the test sample

3 . Running the test

Once the user chooses a profile and a name for the test and clicks the Start Test button, the test chamber is heated up to the first temperature selected in the profile. When the target temperature is reached the flywheel accelerates to the first pre-defined speed. The clutch engages and an instantaneous torque measurement is taken. The instrument steps through the pre-defined series of shear rates and temperatures until the test is completed.

The results are plotted into a viscosity vs. shear rate graph as the measurements are logged. The user can choose to toggle the display to a shear stress vs. shear rate graph. The viscosity values can be shown or hidden with a simple click.

1. To print the graph
2. To hide or show the values on the graph
3. To toggle the y−axis from viscosity to shear stress
4. To manually scale the graph

4 . Test complete: using the data

The test results can be viewed in two different ways: from the USV software or via an exported test data file (.txt). From the software interface, the graph can be re-scaled and printed by simply clicking the ‘Print Test’ button, see view above. From the data file, the results can be easily imported into a suitable spreadsheet package to be viewed and analysed off-line.