Context: In civil engineering, understanding fluid behavior goes beyond water and air. Many materials used in construction and encountered in nature are non-Newtonian fluids.

Application: Concrete pumping is a classic example. Fresh concrete behaves as a Bingham plastic—it requires a certain yield stress to be overcome before it starts flowing. Once flowing, its apparent viscosity decreases. This property is crucial for designing pump systems and ensuring concrete can be transported to high elevations without segregating. Similarly, drilling muds used in geotechnical engineering exhibit shear-thinning behavior, allowing them to flow easily when pumped but gel when stationary to suspend cuttings.

Context: Capillary action driven by surface tension plays a significant role in geotechnical and agricultural engineering.

Application: In fine-grained soils like silts and clays, the small void spaces act as capillary tubes. Surface tension draws water upward above the water table, creating a capillary fringe. This phenomenon can cause soils to remain saturated even above the water table, affecting the soil's effective stress and shear strength. In cold climates, capillary action can lead to frost heave, where water is drawn into freezing zones, forming ice lenses that lift and damage pavements and light structures.