Electrorheological Fluids

Abstract

Materials that switch from liquid‐like to solid‐like upon application of an electric field are termed electrorheological fluids. The general features and preparation of these smart materials are reviewed before recent advances in the improvement and applications (e.g., sensors, damping devices, inks) of these fluids are described. Materials ranging from aluminosilicate (see Figure) and carbonaceous inorganic materials to liquid‐crystal polymers to semiconductive polymers can be used to fabricate electrorheological fluids.

Comparison of electrorheological characteristics obtained in two geometrical arrangements: Parallel plates and concentric cylinders

“…The formation of a chain-like structure occurs due to particle polarisation in the direction of an electric field. A number of studies of this mechanism have been summarized in several review papers (Block and Kelly [5], Jordan and Shaw [6], Block et al [7], Parthasarathy and Klingenberg [8], See [9], Hao [10,11], Sheng and Wen [12]). Most commercially available rheometers can be equipped with ER cells making full use of the functionality of the host instruments.…”

Modeling, Simulation and Optimization of Electrorheological Fluids

“…The potential industrial applicability of electrorheological fluids in automotive applications (BAYER [1998], BUTZ and STRYK [2001], COULTER et al [1993], FILISKO [1995], GARG and ANDERSON [2003], GAVIN [2001], GAVIN et al [1996a,b], HARTSOCK et al [1991], HOPPE et al [2000], JANOCHA et al [1996], LORD [1996], PEEL et al [1996], SIMS et al [1999], STANWAY et al [1996], WEYENBERG et al [1996], ZHAO et al [2005]), aerospace applications (BERG and WELLSTEAD [1998], LOU et al [2001], WERELEY et al [2001]), food processing (DAUBERT et al [1998]), geophysics (MAKRIS [1999], XU et al [2000]), life sciences (KLEIN et al [2004], LIU et al [2005], MAVROIDIS et al [2001], MONKMANN et al [2003a,b], TAKASHIMA and SCHWAN [1985]), manufacturing (KIM et al [2003]), military applications (DEFENSE UPDATE [2004]), and nondestructive testing (MAVROIDIS [2002]) caused the US Department of Energy to issue a research assessment of electrorheological fluids (DOE [1993]) and popular scientific journals such as Science and Nature to publish overview articles (HALSEY [1992], WHITTLE and BULLOUGH [1992]). Further references covering various aspects of experimental work, modeling efforts, and applications of electrorheological fluids can be found in BOSSIS [2002], HAO [2001], TAO and ROY [1995].…”

The role of particle conductivity in electrorheology of suspensions of variously protonated polyaniline

“…Among them polyaniline (PANI) has been the object of many ER studies [4][5][6][7]. Its conductivity can be advantageously easily arranged by protonation to various doping levels to obtain particle suspension with a high ER performance.…”