Experimental study of the rheological behavior of electrorheological fluids

Recently, electrorheological fluids (ERFs) have emerged as a potential technology for implementing semi-active control in smart structure and vehicle applications to efficiently suppress vibration. The rheological behavior of ERFs under an electric field is important in engineering application. The work described here involves experimental research into the rheological behavior, under a variety of electric fields, of three kinds of ERF: (C 6 H 10 O 5 ) n , TiO 2 –CeCl 3 , and SrTiO 3 /PANI (PANI = polyaniline). We aim to design a high-performance ERF and display an ER effect. Results show that different kinds of ERF have different yield properties, especially under the conditions of both post-yield and higher shear rates. In terms of the trend in behavior of the ER effect shown in the experimental curves, the expression for the relation between dynamic shear stress and static yield stress has also been investigated. Both the highest negative and the highest positive differential values have been obtained. We also show that apparent viscosity shows three different trends in behavior, based on at-line start, non-linear power-law and Bingham power-law (Sisco) flow behavior. The relative variation values of ERFs at low and high shear rates, respectively, are shown.