Deborah number ($\mathrm{De}=\tau /t_{\mathrm{process}}$)

The Deborah number compares a material's viscoelastic relaxation time with the time scale of an imposed process. A small value allows substantial stress relaxation during that process; a large value can reveal stored elasticity. In small-amplitude oscillatory shear, one commonly uses $\mathrm{De}=\omega \tau$. Large frequency does not by itself invalidate a linear viscoelastic fluid approximation if the deformation amplitude remains sufficiently small.