Abstract
We have developed the basic equation of the orientational distribution function of oblate spheroidal hematite particles that conduct the rotational Brownian motion in a simple shear flow under an applied magnetic field. An oblate spheroidal hematite particle has an important characteristic that it is magnetized in a direction normal to the particle axis. Since a dilute dispersion is addressed in the present study, we have taken into account only the friction force (torque) with neglecting the hydrodynamic interactions among particles. This basic equation has been numerically solved in order to investigate the dependence of the orientational distribution on the magnetic field strength, shear rate and rotational Brownian motion, and also the relationship between the orientational distribution and the transport coefficients such as viscosity and diffusion coefficient.
