Field-induced structures and rheology of a magnetorheological suspension confined between two walls

We have determined experimentally the parameters characterizing the structures formed in a magnetic colloidal suspension subjected to a unidirectional magnetic field and a rotating field for different cell thicknesses. In this latter case one observes the formation of a periodic structure in parallel sheets situated in the plane of rotation of the field. A theoretical model based on minimization of the energy allows one to find quantitatively the observations obtained in a unidirectional field. On the other hand, in a rotating field, the agreement is quantitative only if we take the surface energy as an adjustable parameter. We explain this fact on the basis of the existence of a substructure made of discs of particles. In a second part we show the influence of the structures on the rheological properties of the suspension by measuring the shear moduli for different kinds of structure. We find that for the same magnetic field, the shear moduli depend strongly on the structure and can be quite well predicted by a mean field theory; also the critical shear strain is determined and is in agreement with the model. Finally we show that, in a regime with a unidirectional oscillating field without shear flow, a new phenomenon appears if the confining walls are not parallel. In this case we observe the formation of anisotropic aggregates which undergo a collective chaotic rotation around the axis of the aggregates.