Hydraulic Press Pushes Non-Newtonian Fluid Through a Plate Drilled With Small Holes

The Hydraulic Press Channel put some of these weird fluids to the pressure test in this entertaining video.
Jessica Miley

Non-Newtonian fluids are fluids whose viscosity varies based on applied pressure. The most common example of a non-Newtonian fluid is cornstarch mixed with water. This fluid, when stirred slowly behaves like a thin liquid, but when force is applied it can stiffen and solidify.

So what would happen if a liquid like this was pressed under a slow but steady 150 bars of pressure? The team over at the Hydraulic Press Channel wondered that too.

So they mixed up a batch of cornstarch and water, added some blue dye for effect and sent a pressure plate drilled with small holes down. The effects were surprising.

First, all the water is extracted in a single blue wave, then the remaining blue cornstarch mix is pushed through the drill plate in thin worms. Watching this in slow motion is absolutely satisfying.

Next up another type of non-newtonian fluid is placed under the press. This fluid has a color changing ability when it experiences a significant temperature change.

Because of the high amount of energy required to change form, the HPC team expected it to change color when pressed. However, it stayed orange but behaved in an absolutely different way.

From here the video descends into chaos as the Hydraulic Press Channel responds to viewers' request and press down all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff. This channel never fails to entertain.