Rheological Interpretation of the Slump Test

Abstract We examine the validity of the slump test for predicting the yield stress of polymeric suspensions and mineral suspensions. First we propose a modification of this test: in order to make measurements on fluids with high yield stress (of the order of several hundreds of Pascal) we add a mass at the sample top. From detailed observations of the slump in time we show that, for polymeric suspensions (hair gel and sewage sludges), two critical stresses can be distinguished which almost exactly correspond to the two critical stresses (respectively corresponding to a regime change and to the asymptotic slump) observed in rheometry during creep tests. Thus the slump test appears as a practiceful and relevant means to determine the intrinsic properties of these fluids. For mineral suspensions it is shown that the flow abruptly stops after a short time, a behaviour in agreement with the results of rheometrical tests carried out by progressively decreasing the applied stress. In that case the slump also appears to significantly depend on the procedure and cannot be related to a single property of the material.