Brookfield Engineering is an engineering and manufacturing company with headquarters in

Middleboro, Massachusetts Middleborough (frequently written as Middleboro) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,245 at the 2020 census. History The town was first settled by Europeans in 1661 as Nemasket, later changed to M ...

. It is a subsidiary of the conglomerate

Ametek AMETEK, Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate and global designer and manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices with headquarters in the United States and over 220 sites worldwide. The company was founded in 1 ...

. Its product line includes laboratory

viscometer A viscometer (also called viscosimeter) is an instrument used to measure the viscosity of a fluid. For liquids with viscosities which vary with flow conditions, an instrument called a rheometer is used. Thus, a rheometer can be considered as a spe ...

rheometer A rheometer is a laboratory device used to measure the way in which a dense fluid (a liquid, suspension or slurry) flows in response to applied forces. It is used for those fluids which cannot be defined by a single value of viscosity and t ...

s, texture analyzers, and powder flow testers as well as in-line process instrumentation. These instruments are used by research, design, and process control departments.

Company history

The company was established in 1934 by Don Brookfield Sr., who graduated from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

with a degree in

electrochemical engineering Electrochemical engineering is the branch of chemical engineering dealing with the technological applications of electrochemical phenomena, such as electrosynthesis of chemicals, electrowinning and refining of metals, flow batteries and fuel cells, ...

. Brookfield Engineering was a family-run business until 1986, when it became an ESOP company. It has been

ISO ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance * Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007 * Iso ...

certified since the 1990s. Brookfield Engineering has dealers in 60 countries and regional offices in the US, UK, Germany, India and China. All manufacturing is located in the US at company headquarters.Brookfield Engineering - Company History

Principle of operation

Classical Brookfield viscometers employ the principle of rotational viscometry—the

torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational equivalent of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). It represents the capability of a force to produce change in the rotational motion of th ...

required to turn an object, such as a spindle, in a fluid indicates the viscosity of the fluid. Torque is applied through a calibrated spring to a disk or bob spindle immersed in test fluid and the spring deflection measures the viscous drag of the fluid against the spindle. The amount of viscous drag is proportional to the amount of torque required to rotate the spindle, and thus to the viscosity of a Newtonian fluid. In the case of non-Newtonian fluids, Brookfield viscosities measured under the same conditions (model, spindle, speed, temperature, time of test, container, and any other sample preparation procedures that may affect the behavior of the fluid) can be compared.The Rheology School – Brookfield Viscosity Explained
/ref> When developing a new test method, trial and error is often necessary in order to determine the proper spindle and speeds. Successful test methods will deliver a % torque reading between 10 and 100.Brookfield Engineering – More Solutions to Sticky Problems
The

rheological Rheology (; ) is the study of the flow of matter, primarily in a fluid (liquid or gas) state, but also as "soft solids" or solids under conditions in which they respond with plastic flow rather than deforming elastically in response to an appli ...

behavior of the test fluid can be observed using the same spindle at different speeds, but because the geometry of the fluid around a rotating bob or disk spindle in a large container does not allow a single

shear rate In physics, shear rate is the rate at which a progressive shearing deformation is applied to some material. Simple shear The shear rate for a fluid flowing between two parallel plates, one moving at a constant speed and the other one stationary ...

to be assigned, proper rheometry is not feasible using this setup. Apart from its rotating bob viscometers, Brookfield now also produces defined-geometry rheometers which allow complete rheological analysis of fluids.

References

{{reflist, 2 Viscosity Rheology Companies based in Plymouth County, Massachusetts Companies based in Massachusetts 1934 establishments in Massachusetts Technology companies established in 1934 Manufacturing companies established in 1934

Company history

Principle of operation

See also

References