WHAT IS RHEOLOGY?

Rheology is the science that studies the deformation and flow of matter. It is a relatively young and multidisciplinary science that encompasses such different industrial areas of activity as plastics, ceramics, cosmetics, pharmaceutics, food and biotechnology, but also paints and inks, adhesives, lubricants and surfactants. In fact, it is quite straightforward to list situations where the deformation or the flow of matter (which depend on the rheological characteristics of the materials involved) determines the performance of a product, the effectiveness of a service, the rate of a manufacturing process. The truly polyvalent character of Rheology can also be ascertained from the fact that, increasingly, techniques and procedures developed for specific types of materials and industries are later found to be of usefulness in completely different areas. A good example is the increasing use of computational, theoretical and experimental tools developed for polymers and the plastics industry in the food industry. As a multidisciplinary science Rheology requires the integration of computational, theoretical and experimental tools from different sciences.