Wall slip of vaseline in steady shear rheometry

The steady shear flow properties of vaseline generally used as a base of the pharmaceutical dosage forms were studied in the consideration of wall slip phenomenon. The purpose of this study was to show that how slip may affect the experimental steady-state flow curves of semisolid ointment bases and to discuss the ways to eliminate (or minimize) wall slip effect in a rotational rheometer. Using both a strain-controlled ARES rheometer and a stress-controlled AR1000 rheometer, the steady shear flow behavior was investigated with various experimental conditions ; the surface roughness, sample preparation, plate diameter, gap size, shearing time, and loading methods were varied. A stress-controlled rheometer was suitable for investigating the flow behavior of semisolid ointment bases which show severe wall slip effects. In the conditions of parallel plates attached with sand paper, treated sample, smaller diameter fixture, larger gap size, shorter shearing time, and normal force control loading method, the wall slip effects could be minimized. A critical shear stress for the onset of slip was extended to above 10,000 dyne/$\textrm{cm}^2$. The wall slip effects could not be perfectly eliminated by any experimental conditions. However, the slip was delayed to higher value of shear stress by selecting proper fixture properties and experimental conditions.