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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.

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 generalized Newtonian fluid can approximate the shear response of a fluid with viscoelasticity when the flow varies slowly relative to its stress-memory time scales and elastic stresses are negligible, or in locally steady unidirectional flow where a fitted steady shear viscosity captures the relevant stress and elastic normal stresses do not significantly influence the motion. It is not a general replacement in rapidly changing flows or in flows controlled by elastic stresses. Two specific failures are stress relaxation after deformation stops, since this law has no memory, and nonzero normal-stress differences in steady simple shear flow, since the only nonzero nonpressure components are off diagonal. A rate-dependent viscosity alone cannot repair either limitation.

Take the usual physical power-law fluid range $k>0$, $n>0$, and $G>0$. The steady unidirectional Couette-Poiseuille flow satisfies $0=G+{\partial }_y{\sigma }_{xy}$. The stated upper-wall stress thus givesPut $Y=y/h$. Inverting this monotone stress law gives $u_y=(Gh/k{)}^{1/n}\mathrm{sgn}(\alpha -Y)|\alpha -Y{|}^{1/n}$. Integration from the lower no-slip boundary condition $u(-h)=-U$ gives the power-law Couette-Poiseuille flow profileThe upper no-slip boundary condition requiresThe bracket is a strictly increasing function of $\alpha$ with value zero at $\alpha =0$, so the equation determines a unique positive $\alpha$. The absolute values are essential: for sufficiently strong pressure driving, the shear can reverse inside the channel. For a Newtonian fluid, $n=1$, $\mu =k$, and the bracket reduces to $4\alpha$, yieldingFor zero pressure gradient the limit is pure Couette flow; the parameterization of wall stress by $Gh\alpha$ then becomes singular rather than indicating zero Couette stress.

For weak pressure forcing, let $s_0=U/h$ and $s_c=k{s}_0^n$. Write the center-plane shear stress as $s_c+\delta s$. Linearization of the power-law relation about the positive base shear givesIntegrating $u_y$ across the channel must still give $2U$. The Gy term has zero mean, so $\delta s=0$ at first order. Hence the weak-pressure Couette-Poiseuille expansion isIt is a small positive parabolic displacement of the straight Couette profile, preserving both wall velocities. For fixed positive n the stated $Gh\ll k(U/h{)}^n$ controls the expansion; when n is very small one needs the stronger incremental condition $Gh\ll nk(U/h{)}^n$.

The volume flux per unit spanwise width is $Q={\int }_{-h}^{h}u(y)dy$. The odd Couette part contributes zero and the parabola contributes $4h^3/3$ times its coefficient, soThis correctly reduces to the exact Newtonian flux $2G{h}^3/(3k)$ at $n=1$.

The extension to a general smooth generalized Newtonian fluid uses its differential shear viscosity, rather than its secant viscosity. Let $\mathcal{T}(s)=s\mu (s)$ for positive shear rate, and assumeLinearizing the stress law repeats the preceding calculation with $nk{s}_0^{n-1}$ replaced by ${\eta }_d$. ThusThe expansion requires small rate changes, $Gh\ll s_0|{\eta }_d|$, and a smooth constitutive law on the perturbed rates. At zero differential viscosity the regular first-order expansion fails. A negative differential viscosity is still locally invertible mathematically, so the formula is formally applicable, but belongs to a decreasing, mechanically unstable constitutive branch. The usual stable-flow interpretation requires positive differential viscosity. Thus “any” generalized-Newtonian law needs these local qualifications.