What is a Bingham plastic model?

A Bingham plastic is a viscoplastic material that acts like a rigid solid under low stress levels, but flows like a viscous fluid once a specific yield stress is exceeded. Named after Eugene C. Bingham, this mathematical model is frequently used to describe drilling mud flows, slurries, and everyday items like toothpaste. In rheological terms, pastes are a common example of this behavior because their suspended granular structures jam together until a sufficient load is applied.

What we know

• A Bingham plastic is a viscoplastic material that behaves as a rigid body at low stresses and flows as a viscous fluid at high stress. [1, 2]
• The mathematical form of the Bingham plastic was proposed by Eugene C. Bingham in 1916. [2]
• Toothpaste is a common example of a Bingham plastic, remaining unmoved in the tube until enough pressure is applied to extrude it as a coherent plug. [2]
• The model is utilized in drilling engineering as a common mathematical representation of mud flow and in handling slurries. [2]
• In physics and rheology, a paste is an example of a Bingham plastic fluid that consists of a suspended granular material jammed together into an amorphous structure. [4]

Where to go next

• whoWho was Eugene C. Bingham?
• a case in pointHow does toothpaste behave under pressure?
• the bigger pictureWhat makes a fluid non-Newtonian?
• what caused itHow are mud flows modeled in drilling engineering?
• how we knowWhat is fluid mechanics?
• an unexpected connectionHow are pharmaceutical pastes related to industrial drilling muds?Both substances rely on the Bingham plastic model where suspended solid particles jam together to form a solid-like structure until yield stress triggers fluid flow.

Sources

• [1]Bingham plastic (Wikidata Q863789) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Bingham plastic · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Non-Newtonian fluid · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Paste (rheology) · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Fluid mechanics · CC BY-SA 4.0