Cluster of Particles Suspended in Functional Fluid

Abstract

The viscosity variation of a suspension due to applied electric field strength is called Electrorheological(ER) effect, and several kinds of ER fluid have been developed so that it may be applied to mainly semi-active devices in mechanical engineering field. ER fluid generally consists of solid particles suspended in dielectric liquid. The particles in the liquid build up chain structures between electrodes in the direction of the applied electric field, whose tensile strength causes yield shear stress variation of ER fluid. In the present paper, the cluster formation of particles in ER fluid under an electric field was simulated by Cellular Automata(CA) and ER effect was quantified.