The viscosity of synovial fluid during oscillatory movement

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Palfrey, A.J. | White, J.B.

Affiliations: Department of Anatomy, St. Thomas’s Hospital Medical School, London S.E.1.

Abstract: A cone and plate viscometer, the Weissenberg rheogoniometer, is used to study the viscosity of synovial fluid from the radiocarpal joint of cattle. A sinusoidal movement of low amplitude is applied to the lower conical platen and the movements of both platens are recorded. The movement detected at the upper platen is shown to increase markedly about the natural frequency of the torsion head, and there is also a change in the phase difference between the movements of the two platens. The viscosity of the fluid is calculated and shown to decrease as the frequency of the oscillation is increased; there is a discontinuity of the plot on either side of the natural frequency, which persists even after the application of correction factors. The results are also difficult to interpret at the highest frequencies. A comparison is made with results obtained by rotational testing, and they are seen to correspond closely. At the lowest frequencies the fluid behaves in in a non-Newtonian fashion.

DOI: 10.3233/BIR-1968-5301

Journal: Biorheology, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 189-198, 1968