An Overview of Magneto- and Electro-Rheological Fluids and their Applications in Fluid Power Systems

The rapid change in viscosity of magnetorheological (MR) and electrorheological (ER) fluids subjected to a magnetic or an electric field, respectively, has attracted the attention of many researchers. However, as MR fluids show higher yield stress than ER fluids, they have merited more attention during the last few years. In this paper we present an overview of magneto- and electrorheological fluids, their basic properties, behaviour under different flow types and their uses in fluid power systems, among others.