In order to study the rheological properties of aqueous magnetorheological fluids (MRFs) from microscopic point of view, an experimental observation method based on the fluorescence confocal laser scanning microscope is proposed to clearly produce the chain shape of the magnetic particles. Firstly, the mathematical model of the magnetic particles is established in a magnetic field using the magnetic dipole theory, and the MRFs with different fraction volumes and different magnetic fields are investigated. Furthermore, an aqueous MRFs experiment is prepared, in which the magnetic particles are combined with Alexa 488 fluorescent probe. On this basis, an observation method is innovatively developed using two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) image analysis by the fluorescence confocal microscope. The rheological mechanism of the aqueous MRFs is investigated using four different types of MRFs in an external magnetic field. The analysis results demonstrate that the simulation and experimental rheological properties of the MRFs are consistent with the magnetic dipole theory. Moreover, the proposed method is able to real-time observe the rheological process of the MRFs with a very high resolution, which ensures the correctness of the analysis results of the rheological mechanism.

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