Rheology is the research area focused on the deformation and flow behavior of materials under applied stresses, encompassing solids, liquids, and complex soft matter such as polymers, suspensions, emulsions, and gels. It investigates constitutive relationships between stress, strain, and strain rate, characterizing viscoelastic, plastic, and non-Newtonian responses using theoretical, computational, and experimental methods. Rheological studies quantify properties like viscosity, elasticity, yield stress, and relaxation spectra, often via shear, extensional, and oscillatory tests. The field underpins the modeling of microstructure–flow coupling, time- and rate-dependent behavior, and instabilities, with relevance to materials design, process engineering, and the interpretation of continuum-level transport phenomena.
In a development that could shift our basic understanding of fluid mechanics, researchers from Drexel University have reported that, given the right circumstances, it is possible to induce a simple liquid to fracture like ...
Soft Matter
Mar 28, 2026
1
166
When you reach the bottom of a container of milk or honey, you might be tempted to tip the container over to get that last pesky little bit out. After all, you only need another teaspoon for that recipe, and you're sure it's ...
Soft Matter
Mar 3, 2026
0
118
What happens to soft matter when gravity disappears? To answer this, UvA physicists launched a fluid dynamics experiment on a sounding rocket. The suborbital rocket reached an altitude of 267 km before falling back to Earth, ...
Soft Matter
Feb 11, 2026
0
32
If you've ever watched a glass blower at work, you've seen a material behaving in a very special way. As it cools, the viscosity of molten glass increases steadily but gradually, allowing it to be shaped without a mold. Physicists ...
The cells in our bodies move in groups during biological processes such as wound healing and tissue development—but because of resistance, or viscosity, those cells can't just neatly glide past each other.
Molecular & Computational biology
Jan 31, 2026
0
105
Slippery, drippy goop makes Ralstonia bacteria devastating killers of plants, causing rapid wilting in tomato, potato, and a wide range of other crops, according to new research. The work, published Jan. 22 in Proceedings ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jan 23, 2026
0
53
Complex fluids, such as polymer melts and concentrated suspensions, are foundational materials for industrial products, including high-strength plastics and optical components. The final performance of these materials depends ...
Optics & Photonics
Dec 29, 2025
0
17
For decades, scientists have observed, but been unable to explain, a phenomenon seen in some soft materials: When force is applied, these materials exhibit not one, but two spikes in energy dissipation, known as overshoots. ...
General Physics
Oct 8, 2025
0
45
Imagine a liquid that flows freely one moment, then stiffens into a near-solid the next, and then can switch back with a simple change in temperature. Researchers at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular ...
Soft Matter
Jul 2, 2025
0
75
We rarely think about how liquids flow—why honey is thick, water is thin or how molten plastic moves through machines. But for scientists and engineers, understanding and predicting the viscosity of materials, especially ...
