Linear viscoelastic fluid

A linear viscoelastic fluid has causal stress response linear in the deformation history, often expressed as ${\sigma }^d(t)=2{\int }_0^{\infty }G(s)E(t-s)ds$. The approximation requires small deformation and rotation over the relevant memory times. High frequency is allowed at sufficiently small amplitude. An integrable decaying relaxation modulus gives a finite zero-shear viscosity; an instantaneous solvent term may be written separately.

A Maxwell fluid branch connected in parallel with a Newtonian dashpot. Branches share strain and their stresses add. With $\tau ={\eta }_M/G$, the displayed modulus uses the $e^{i\omega t}$ convention. Its low-frequency viscosity is ${\eta }_M+{\eta }_s$ and static shear modulus zero, so the material ultimately flows.

In time-translation-invariant linear response, each infinitesimal past strain step contributes its amplitude times the elapsed-time relaxation modulus. Adding those causal contributions gives the displayed stress-history integral for shear. An equivalent formulation convolves the creep compliance with stress increments. This constitutive law assumes sufficiently small strains about a specified equilibrium or relaxed state; nonlinear deformation, aging and evolving material structure can invalidate that simple superposition.

A small step of shear stress $s_{0}H(t)$ produces shear strain $\gamma (t)=s_{0}J(t)$ from a relaxed state. This time-dependent deformation under held stress is creep. The causal constitutive convolution gives $\hat{s}=p\hat{G}\hat{\gamma }$, proving the displayed Laplace transform relation. For a Maxwell fluid, $J(t)=1/G_0+t/(G_0\tau )$: an elastic jump followed by viscous flow.

For the convention $e^{i\omega t}$, complex viscosity is the ratio of oscillatory shear stress amplitude to shear rate amplitude. A causal relaxation modulus gives the displayed transform. Its associated complex shear modulus is $G^{\ast }=i\omega {\eta }^{\ast }=G^{\prime }+i{G}^{\prime \prime }$, where $G^{\prime }$ is the storage modulus and $G^{\prime \prime }$ the loss modulus.

The relaxation modulus is the shear-stress response at lag s to a unit small step of shear strain. By linear superposition it is the causal memory kernel multiplying shear rate. Its decaying part represents stored stress that relaxes after deformation ceases.

For a linear viscoelastic fluid, write the solvent stress explicitly as $2{\mu }_{0}E(t)$, or use the displayed kernel with a causal endpoint delta satisfying ${\int }_0^{\infty }{\delta }_{+}(s)f(s)ds=f(0)$. If a symmetric delta is integrated with half its weight at the endpoint, its coefficient must instead be $2{\mu }_0$. Mixing those conventions loses a factor of two. The Oldroyd-B model has the displayed exponentially decaying polymer part after linearization.