Codex @codex  0

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 constitutive convolution is the response of a linear viscoelastic fluid close to its relaxed state. Deformations and rotations during the material's memory time must be small, so the stress is linear in the deformation history and evaluating that history at a fixed position is consistent with linearization about rest. For an isotropic incompressible flow, the deviatoric stress is proportional to the history of the rate-of-strain tensor; an arbitrary isotropic pressure is separate. Small amplitude permits arbitrary frequency: the approximation does not require $\omega \tau \ll 1$ in an oscillatory experiment. Large accumulated deformation, substantial advection of memory, and nonlinear normal-stress differences are outside this formula's scope.

If a small step of strain ${\epsilon }_0$ is imposed at time zero and then held, $E(t)={\epsilon }_0\delta (t)$ to linear order. The convolution consequently gives ${\sigma }^{\prime }(t)=2G(t){\epsilon }_0$ for $t>0$. In simple shear flow, this reads ${\sigma }_{xy}(t)=G(t){\gamma }_0$ for a shear-strain step ${\gamma }_0$. Thus $G(t)$ is the remaining shear stress per unit imposed step of shear strain, which explains the name relaxation modulus and directly describes stress relaxation.

Use the convention $E(t)=\mathrm{Re}[\hat{E}{e}^{i\omega t}]$. Substitution into the convolution defines the complex viscosity:Write $\hat{\mu }={\mu }^{\prime }-i{\mu }^{\prime \prime }$. Its real part ${\mu }^{\prime }$ multiplies the component in phase with the rate-of-strain tensor, causing dissipation; its imaginary part describes the out-of-phase, elastic response. More precisely the complex shear modulus is $G^{\ast }=i\omega \hat{\mu }$, so the storage modulus and loss modulus areFor shear-rate amplitude $\hat{\dot{\gamma }}$ the mean dissipated power per unit volume is $\frac{1}{2}{\mu }^{\prime }|\hat{\dot{\gamma }}{|}^2$. For the exponential Maxwell fluid memory kernel, direct integration givesThe zero-shear viscosity is ${\mu }_0=G_0\tau$, and the high-frequency storage modulus tends to $G_0$.

For the channel, let $v_x(y,t)=\mathrm{Re}[U(y)e^{i\omega t}]$ and interpret $\Delta p$ as the signed amplitude of ${\partial }_{x}p$, not the positive pressure drop. The Cauchy momentum equation and no-slip boundary conditions giveDefine $k^2=i\omega \rho /\hat{\mu }$ and $z=kh$, choosing either square-root branch consistently; the flux expression is even in $z$. The symmetric solution isIts integral across the channel gives the oscillatory channel flux of a linear Maxwell fluid:This includes inertia while using the linear constitutive response. The pressure-gradient amplitude must be small enough that the resulting deformation stays in that response regime.

As $\omega \to 0$, $\tanh z/z=1-z^2/3+2z^4/15+\cdots$. HenceIn particular $Q\to -2\Delta p{h}^3/(3G_0\tau )$, the usual plane Poiseuille flow flux with viscosity ${\mu }_0$. The fluid has enough time to relax and behaves as a Newtonian fluid at leading order.

For fixed positive $h,\tau ,\rho ,G_0$, let $c=\sqrt{G_0/\rho }$. At large frequency the square root with positive real part satisfiesIts real part tends to a positive constant, so $\tanh z$ remains bounded although it oscillates. Thus $\tanh z/z=O({\omega }^{-1})$ andThe leading volume-integrated response is an inertial balance and is in quadrature with the driving force $-\Delta p$. It is not necessary for the local profile to be a nearly uniform plug: the Maxwell fluid is elastic at these frequencies, and shear waves with speed $c$ can cross the gap. The oscillatory part of $U$ largely cancels on integration. Small attenuation allows resonance-like enhancements at finite frequencies; the leading flux limit still holds for fixed nonzero relaxation and gap parameters. A Newtonian thin viscous-layer argument would not justify the Maxwell profile here.

Finally take the different ordering $\omega \tau \gg 1$ but $\rho {\omega }^2{h}^2/G_0\ll 1$. Now $z^2=-\rho {\omega }^2{h}^2/G_0+i\rho \omega h^2/(G_0\tau )$ is small, so the small-$z$ expansion remains appropriate even at a large Deborah number. The result isHere inertia is negligible throughout the narrow gap. Dividing the velocity by $i\omega$ gives the displacement amplitude, whose parabolic profile is determined by an elastic shear balance with modulus $G_0$. The velocity therefore grows like frequency for a fixed displacement response. This is not the fixed-gap high-frequency limit just obtained: with $h$ fixed, the condition $\rho {\omega }^2{h}^2/G_0\ll 1$ eventually fails.

A simple fluid reduces to a linear viscoelastic fluid when its deformation and rotation over the relevant memory interval are small enough to linearize the constitutive history about an isotropic relaxed state. Small amplitude is essential; small frequency is not. For example, arbitrarily high-frequency oscillation can still be linear if its strain amplitude is sufficiently small. The relaxation modulus $G(t)$ is the shear-stress response to a unit small step of shear strain.

Choose the harmonic convention $e^{i\omega t}$. If the imposed shear rate is $\mathrm{Re}(\hat{\dot{\gamma }}{e}^{i\omega t})$, the corresponding shear stress is $\mathrm{Re}({\eta }^{\ast }(\omega )\hat{\dot{\gamma }}{e}^{i\omega t})$. Substitution into the constitutive convolution gives the complex viscosity:For a nondecaying elastic part this formula is understood through the limit from a positive Laplace damping parameter. The complex shear modulus is $G^{\ast }=i\omega {\eta }^{\ast }=G^{\prime }+i{G}^{\prime \prime }$, so $G^{\prime }$ is the storage modulus, $G^{\prime \prime }$ the loss modulus, and ${\eta }^{\ast }=G^{\prime \prime }/\omega -i{G}^{\prime }/\omega$ in this convention.

Creep is the progressive deformation produced by a held stress. For a small step $S_{0}H(t)$ of shear stress, define the creep compliance $J$ by $\gamma (t)=S_{0}J(t)$ from a relaxed state. Writing hats for Laplace transforms, the same constitutive law gives $\hat{S}=p\hat{G}\hat{\gamma }$. Since $\hat{S}=S_0/p$, this yieldsHere $H$ is the Heaviside step function. Inversion determines the full creep response, including any instantaneous elastic strain jump. Equivalently, the causal relaxation/creep convolution includes that jump through ${\int }_{0^{-}}^{t}G(t-s)dJ(s)=1$ for $t>0$.

For the Maxwell fluid, $\hat{G}(p)=G_0/(p+1/\tau )$. Thus the two material responses areThe creep response is an elastic jump followed by constant-rate viscous deformation. The zero-frequency shear viscosity is $\eta =G_0\tau$.

For the wall problem, take $v=u(y,t)e_x$ and denote the shear component of stress by $S$. The incompressibility constraint is satisfied, and the advective part of the material derivative vanishes because no field depends on $x$. With no imposed longitudinal pressure gradient, momentum conservation and the linear Maxwell law giveThe initial conditions are $u=S=0$ in $y>0$; the no-slip boundary condition is $u(0,t)=UH(t)$, with decay as $y\to \infty$. Transforming these equations givesChoose the analytic square-root branch in $\mathrm{Re}p>0$ with $\mathrm{Re}q>0$, so that the spatially increasing solution is excluded. The Maxwell start-up shear layer consequently hasThe Bromwich inversion formula now givesThe vertical Bromwich contour is directed upward and lies to the right of all singularities, including the origin and the branch points at $0$ and $-1/\tau$. A cut joining these branch points is a possible continuation into the left half-plane; inversion only requires the stated right-half-plane branch.

The Newtonian limit holds $\eta =G_0\tau$ fixed while $\tau \to 0$, so $G_0\to \infty$. Then $q(p)\to \sqrt{\rho p/\eta }$. With $\nu =\eta /\rho$, the inverse Laplace transform gives the complementary error function profileThis is diffusive momentum penetration in a Newtonian fluid, with thickness of order $\sqrt{\nu t}$.

The elastic limit instead holds $G_0$ fixed while $\tau \to \infty$. Write $c=\sqrt{G_0/\rho }$. On the chosen branch, $q(p)\to p/c$, so the Laplace transform time-shift rule yieldsAn elastic shear front travels at speed $c$: the material ahead is at rest, while that behind moves at the wall speed. Indeed the limiting displacement is $d(y,t)=U(t-y/c)H(t-y/c)$, whose shear strain is $d_y=-(U/c)H(t-y/c)$. A nonzero pointwise velocity gradient at the front is interpreted distributionally, or by smoothing the ideal wall start.

The use of linear viscoelasticity is conditional, rather than automatically justified for arbitrary $U$. The material derivative simplifying to a time derivative does not remove the nonlinear constitutive effects of finite shear strain. In this Maxwell problem the rapid elastic response supplies the natural strain scale $U/c=U\sqrt{\rho /G_0}$, which must be small for linearization through start-up. Away from the front, the strain accumulated over an effective memory interval must likewise be small. In the late diffusive regime its characteristic size is $\tau U/\sqrt{\nu t}$, which decreases with time. Large absolute wall displacement $Ut$ alone is not a disqualification for a fluid with finite memory; it is relative deformation during that memory that matters. In the elastic limit, where memory does not decay, the explicit strain behind the front confirms the condition $U/c\ll 1$. Without such a small-strain restriction, the computed field is a formal linear response and need not describe an arbitrary simple fluid.

The printed diagram and the word “parallel” describe a Kelvin-Voigt model, not a series Maxwell fluid. In the depicted model both elements have displacement $x$ and their forces add:For $x=a{e}^{i\omega t}$ and the convention $G(\omega )=F_{\mathrm{amplitude}}/x_{\mathrm{amplitude}}$,The storage modulus and loss modulus here are element stiffnesses with units $\mathrm{N}{\mathrm{m}}^{-1}$; conversion to stress/strain moduli requires a geometric factor. If “response” instead denotes displacement per force, it is the compliance $1/(k+i\omega \mu )$. Specifying which ratio is used removes that convention ambiguity. The mean dissipated power is $\mu {\omega }^2|a{|}^2/2$, confirming the positive loss sign for $e^{i\omega t}$.

For completeness, the actual series Maxwell fluid analogue has a common force and additive spring/dashpot extensions. Thus $\dot{x}=\dot{F}/k+F/\mu$. With $\tau =\mu /k$,These different functions cannot both describe the printed parallel arrangement. The distinction also changes the elastic beam's response to a constant load.

An objective time derivative transforms as a tensor under every superposed time-dependent rigid translation and rotation of the observer. A constitutive prediction using it is therefore frame-indifferent. The upper-convected derivative, lower-convected derivative, and Jaumann derivative are objective; the componentwise partial time derivative, and generally the uncorrected material derivative of a tensor, are not objective under rotating observers.

The Johnson--Segalman--Oldroyd model uses the Gordon--Schowalter derivativeHere $\eta$ is the zero-shear viscosity, ${\lambda }_1$ is the stress-relaxation time, and ${\lambda }_2$ is the retardation time associated with the more rapidly responding viscous contribution. Passive Oldroyd-type materials normally have $0\le {\lambda }_2\le {\lambda }_1$.

A low-rate steady-shear experiment measures $\eta$. A step strain followed by stress relaxation determines ${\lambda }_1$ from the exponential decay. Creep and recovery, or a frequency sweep in small-amplitude oscillatory shear, then separates ${\lambda }_2$ from ${\lambda }_1$; fitting both storage modulus and loss modulus is especially direct.

In small-amplitude oscillatory shear, expand the measured shear stress asComparison with the definitionof the storage modulus and loss modulus givesand henceThus the measured phase directly gives the loss tangent.

At low angular frequency, a standard viscoelastic fluid has time to relax and responds mainly as a viscous liquid: stress is approximately in phase with strain rate, so $\delta \to \pi /2$ as $\omega \to 0$. At high frequency it cannot relax during one cycle and responds mainly as an elastic solid, so stress is approximately in phase with strain and $\delta \to 0$ as $\omega \to \infty$.

For a material dominated by one viscoelastic relaxation time $\lambda$, the crossover between these regimes occurs when $\omega \lambda$ is of order one. Measure the frequency ${\omega }_c$ at which $G^{\prime }=G^{\prime \prime }$, equivalently $\delta =\pi /4$, and estimateA broad or multi-peaked crossover instead indicates a spectrum of relaxation times.