New Dispersed Phase of Electrorheological Fluids:TiO_2 Coating Graphite Particles

We have prepared novel coated particles, with a conductor graphite core and a dielectric TiO2 coating, as the dispersed phase of electrorheological fluids. One order of magnitude enhancement in the shear stress is obtained by using such composite particles, when it is compared with that of TiO2 particles. The experimental results show a way to get excellent ER system.

A New Modified Conductivity Model for Prediction of Shear Yield Stress of Electrorheological Fluids Based on Face-center Square Structure

A new modified conductivity model was established to predict the shear yield stress of electrorheological fluids (ERF). By using a cell equivalent method, the present model can deal with the face-center square structure of ERF. Combining the scheme of the classical conductivity model for the single-chain structure, a new formula for the prediction of the shear yield stress of ERF was set up. The influences of the separation distance of the particles, the volume fraction of the particles and the applied electric field on the shear yield stress were investigated.

PERCOLATION TRANSITION IN ELECTRORHEOLOGICAL FLUIDS

The electric conductivity, dynamic modulus and yield stress of the developed electrorheolo-gical fluid (ERF) are measured at different volume fraction and different electric field strengthusing a modified Rheometrics Mechanical Spectrometer (Model 605). The percolation theory isintroduced to explain electrorheological effect and found that the ERF′s have the similarpercolated network structure as that of other ordinary suspensions with a critical volume fractionvalue independent of electric field strength. A master curve of dimensionless modulus againstdimensionless volume fraction is obtained. which shows that the essence of ER phenomenonactually is one kind of the second ofder phase transition.

Electrorheological Fluids Based on Titania Particles Coated with Silica and Their Application in Smart Windows

The electrorheological (ER) fluids are colloidal suspension of highly polarizable particles in a non-conducting solvent. Chains of submicron-sized particles formed along an applied DC electric field by the so-called electrorheological effect. According to the obvious change of transmittance of the ER fluids in a DC electric field when the polarized particles arranged along the field, the model of smart window was proposed by sandwiching the ER fluids based on titania particles coated with silica between a pair of In-Sn oxide (ITO) coated glasses. The solar transmittance change as much as 48.0% was obtained with the wavelength of 500 nm at the maximum on applying and removing the electric field of 500 V/mm.

The electric field and frequency responses of giant electrorheological fluids

The giant electrorheological （ER） fluid is based on the principle of a polar molecule dominated electrorheological （PM-ER） effect. The response of the shear stress for PM-ER fluid in alternate electric fields with triangle/square wave forms for different frequencies has been studied. The results show that the shear stress cannot well follow the rapid change of electric field and the average shear stresses of PM-ER fluids decrease with the increasing frequency of the applied field due to the response decay of the shear stress on applied field. The behavior is quite different from that of traditional ER fluids. However, the average shear stress of PM-ER fluid in a square wave electric field of iE at low frequency can keep at high value. The obtained knowledge must be helpful for the design and operation of PM-ER fluids in the applications.

A further investigation to mechanism of the electrorheological effect of waxy oils:Behaviors of charged particles under electric field

Exposing waxy oils to an electric field may significantly improve their cold flowability.Our previous study has shown that interfacial polarization,i.e.,charged particle accumulation on the wax particle surface,is the primary mechanism of the electrorheological behavior of waxy oils.However,the way that charged particles interact with wax particles under an electric field remains unknown.In this study,we found no viscosity and impedance change for two waxy crude oils after their exposure to a high-voltage electric field.However,the yield stresses were reduced obviously.We thus proposed that the collision of colloidal particles such as resins and asphaltenes with the wax particles could be an essential mechanism that the wax particle structure was weakened.To verify this hypothesis,a series of ad hoc experiments were carried out,i.e.,by performing electrorheological tests on model waxy oils containing additives removable under an electric field,including electrically-neutral colloidal particles(Fe3O4),charged colloidal particles(resins),and oil-soluble electrolyte(C22H14CoO4),respectively,and demonstrated that upon application of a high-voltage electric field,charged particles in a waxy oil may move and thus collide with wax particles,and consequently adhere to the wax particle surface.The particle collision results in damage to the wax particle network,and the electrostatic repulsion arising from the adhesion of the charged particle on the wax particle diminishes attraction between wax particles.This study clarifies the process of interfacial polarization.

Induced dipole dominant giant electrorheological fluid

Traditional dielectric electrorheological fluid(ER)is based on the interaction of dielectric particle polarization,and the yield stress is low,which cannot meet the application requirements.The giant ER(GER)effect is caused by orientations and interactions of polar molecules adsorbed on the particle surfaces.Despite the high yield stress,these polar molecules are prone to wear and fall off,resulting in a continuous reduction in shear stress of GER liquid,which is also not suitable for application.Here we introduce a new type of ER fluid called induced dipole dominant ER fluid(ID-ER),of which the particles contain oxygen vacancies or conductor microclusters both prepared by high energy ball milling(HEBM)technique.In the electric field E,oxygen vacancies or conductor microclusters form induced dipoles.Because the local electric field E_(loc) in the gaps between particles can be two to three orders of magnitude larger than E,the induced dipole moments must be large.The strong interactions of these induced dipoles make the yield stress of the ID-ER fluid reaching more than 100 kPa.Since there are oxygen vacancies or conductor microclusters everywhere in the particles,the particles will not lose the function due to surface wear during use.The experimental results show that the ID-ER fluid possesses the advantages of high shear stress,low current density,short response time,good temperature stability,long service life,and anti-settlement,etc.The comprehensive performance is much better than the existing ER materials,and also the preparation method is simple and easy to repeat,thus it should be a new generation of ER fluid suitable for practical applications.

Influence of the Dosage of Surfactant on the Electrorheological Behaviors of Fluids

To investigate the influence of surface characteristics of particles on electrorheological (ER) fluids, water free complex strontium titanate particles were synthesized through the sol gel technique and different mass fraction of the surfactant was doped in particles and dispersed in silicon oil. The test shows that surface characteristics of particles have great influence on the behavior of ER fluids. Surface tension, surface polarity and interfacial polarization are strongly related to the surface status of the dispersed particles.

Conductivity effect in electrorheological fluids

Based on conduction model and cubic particle model, the relationship between current density and shear yield stress of electrorheological (ER) fluids was calculated and compared with some reported experimental results. The conductivity of the insulating oils is found to have been changed by the mixed particles. Several ways to decrease insulating liquid conductivity and increase the conductivity ratio of ER fluids have been proposed to prepare ER fluids with high shear yield stresses but low current densities.

Electrorheological Effects at High Shear Rate

Much attention has been given to electrorheological （ER） fluids because of the ER effect, which has been described by a large number of researchers as a notable increase in the apparent viscosity of a fluid upon the application of an electric field. The description of ER effects is, however, not accurate at high shear rates. To clarify the discrepancy, we analyze and compute the apparent viscosity as a function of shear rate for ER fluid flow between rotating coaxial cylinders in the presence of an electric field. The theoretical predictions show that the increase of electric intensity contributes little to the apparent viscosity enhancement at high shear rates, while ER effects for ER fluids with a higher polarization rate still exist and ER devices possess controllability in this regime. Description of the ER effect by the apparent viscosity leads to an unrealistic conclusion that ER effects disappear at high shear rates, because the apparent viscosity of ER fluids approaches the value for Newtonian fluids. Therefore, it is concluded that the proper description of ER effects, i.e., one that holds uniformly for any strain rate when ER effects exist, is manifested by a remarkable increase in the extra stress rather than in the apparent viscosity of ER fluids.

An Exotic Phase Change in Dynamic Electrorheological Fluids

It is well known that constant or time-varying electric fields can induce phase changes in electrorheological(ER) fluids, from a liquid to semi-solid state, provided the field strength is larger than some critical value. We describe here an experimental and theoretical study considering yet a different class of phase changes, specifically those for an ER fluid in the presence of both shear flow and a time-varying electric field. We note that as the frequency of the field is decreased, the ER fluid will go from a liquid to an intermediate transition state, and eventually to a shear banding state. Our theoretical analysis further indicates that this phase change originates from competing effects of viscous and electrical forces. Ultimately, we conclude that it is possible to achieve various states and corresponding(desired)macroscopic properties of dynamic colloidal suspensions by adjusting the frequency of the externally applied electric field.

Effect of Carrier Liquid on Electrorheological Performance and Stability of Oxalate Group-modified TiO2 Suspensions

By using oxalate group-modified TiO2 nanoparticles as the dispersing phase, different kinds of silicone oil with various viscosities and terminal groups（hydroxyl, hydrogen, and methyl） were used as the dispersing media to prepare different electrorheological（ER） fluids. Their zero-field viscosity, yield stress under direct current electric fields, ER efficiency, shear stability, leakage current density, and sedimentation stability were tested to study the effect of carrier liquid on the properties of ER fluids. The results indicate that the zerofield viscosity, the yield stress, and the leakage current density increase with increasing viscosity of the silicone oils. The effects of the viscosity on the ER efficiency, the shear stability, and the sedimentation ratio depend on the competition between the viscous resistance and the aggregation of the particles. Among the three ER fluids prepared with silicone oil with different terminal groups, hydroxyl-terminated oil based sample has the highest zero-field viscosity, the highest field-induced yield stress and ER efficiency, the largest current density, and the best sedimentation stability.

ELECTRORHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF DIATOMITE/SILICONE OIL SUSPENSIONS UNDER DC FIELDS

In this study, electrorheological （ER） behavior of suspensions prepared from 3.0 and 9.0 μm diatomite particulate, dispersed in insulating silicone oil （SO） medium was investigated. Sedimentation stabilities of suspensions （c = 5 wt%） prepared using these diatomite powders were determined to be 32 days （d = 3 μm） and 24 days （d = 9 μm）, respectively. ER activity of all the suspensions was observed to increase with increasing electric field strength, concentration and decreasing shear rate. Shear stress of diatomite suspensions increased linearly with increasing concentrations of the particles and with the applied electric field strength. Electric field viscosity of all the suspensions decreased sharply with increasing shear rate and particle size, showing a typical shear thinning non-Newtonian visco-elastic behavior. Effects of high temperature and polar promoter onto ER activity ofdiatomite/SO system were also investigated.

ELECTRORHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF TALC POWDER/SILICONE OIL SUSPENSIONS UNDER DC FIELDS

In this study, the electrorheological （ER） behavior of suspensions prepared from d50 = 2.4 lam talc powder, dispersed in insulating silicone oil （SO） medium was investigated. Sedimentation stabilities of suspensions （c = 5 wt%） prepared using these talc powder powders were determined to be 78 days. The ER activity of all the suspensions was observed to increase with increasing electric field strength, concentration and decreasing shear rate. The shear stress of talc powder suspensions increased linearly with increasing concentrations of the particles and with the applied electric field strength. Electric field viscosity of all the suspensions decreased sharply with increasing shear rate and showed a typical shear thinning non-Newtonian visco-elastic behavior. Effects of frequency on the ER activity of talc powder/SO system were also investigated.

Polar molecule dominated electrorheological effect

The yield stress of our newly developed electrorheological （ER） fluids consisting of dielectric nano-particles suspended in silicone oil reaches hundreds of kPa, which is orders of magnitude higher than that of conventional ones. We found that the polar molecules adsorbed on the particles play a decisive role in such new ER fluids. To explain this polar molecule dominated ER （PM-ER） effect a model is proposed based on the interaction of polar molecule-charge between the particles, where the local electric field is significantly enhanced and results in the polar molecules aligning in the direction of the electric field. The model can well explain the giant ER effect and a near-linear dependence of the yield stress on the electric field. The main effective factors for achieving high-performance PM-ER fluids are discussed. The PM-ER fluids with the yield stress higher than one MPa can be expected.

CAPTURE EFFECT OF ELECTRORHEOLOGICAL SUSPENSIONS IN FLOW FIELD

According to the results of experiments and theoretical analysis, a phenomenon called ＂capture effect＂ is put forward, which could be used to describe the particles dynamic behavior of electrorheological （ER） suspensions. Then a ＂structure-force＂ mathematical model is established to explain this effect based on electrostatic energy density equation. The analysis results show that the dynamic coupling process of ER suspensions under an external electric filed is the function not only of the electric intensity, but also of the dielectric properties and the structure form.

Effect of surfactant on the dielectric and electrorheological properties of zinc borate/silicone oil dispersions

Zinc borate(ZB)particles dispersed in silicone oil(SO)at concentrations of φ=5vol%-20vol% were subjected to dielectric analysis to elucidate their polarization strength,time,and mechanism.Results revealed that all virgin dispersions lacked polarization.Triton X-100,a non-ionic surfactant,was added to ZB/SO dispersions to enhance the polarizability of ZB particles.The addition of 1vol% Triton X-100 enhanced the polarizability of ZB/SO dispersions,and the 15vol% ZB/SO system provided the highest dielectric difference Δε′(the difference in ε′values at zero and infinite frequency,Δε′=ε0–ε∝)of 3.64.The electrorheological(ER)activities of the ZB/SO/Triton-X dispersion system were determined through the ER response test,and viscoelastic behaviors were investigated via oscillation tests.A recoverable deformation of 36% under an applied electrical field strength of 1.5 kV/mm was detected through creep and creep recovery tests.

Sol-Gel Preparation of Graphite/TiO_2 Composite Particles and Their Electrorheological Effect

Graphite/TiO2 composite particles were obtained by sol-gel technique in this paper. The structure and characteristic of the composite particles are analyzed by XRD, SEM and TG-DTA. The electrorheological properties of the ER fluid containing the particles were measured by a Couette-type rheometer under shear rates of 1-136 s-1 and AC electric fields of 0-3 kV/mm. The experimental results show that the leaking current density of the ER fluid is higher than that of pure titanium dioxide particles dispersed in damping oil. The shear yield stress of the ER fluid increases with increasing electric field and exhibits a typical Bingham flow behavior. The suspension demonstrates an excellent ER performance (τ/τo=1200) compared with conventional ER fluids (τ/τ0 ≤500). The sedimentation of the ER fluid is improved obviously due to the coating effect of the particles.

The Synthesis and Electrorheological Properties of BaTiO_3-coated PMMA Microspheres

Coated-PMMA microspheres consisting of poly （methyl methacrylate）（PMMA） core and barium titanate （BaTiO3） shell were synthesized by the modified sol-gel processing and then adopted as an electrorheological （ER） materials. The structure and morphology of coated powders were chyfecterized by SEM and FT-IR; the shear stress of the suspensions of coated-PMMA particles and pure PMMA particles in silicone oil with a 20 vol% were investigated. The results show that the BaTiO3 coated PMMA microspheres based suspension in silicone oil exhibited typical ER behavior and stronger ER effects.

Smart Property of Homogeneous Electrorheological Fluid and Its Application in Reducing Seismic Responses of Engineering Structures

The smart properties of homogeneous electrorheological fluid (HERF) containing side-chain type liquid crystalline polymer were studied and an actual HERF damper with an adjustable viscosity was produced.A mechanical model of the HERF smart damper was established on the basis of experiment and theoretical analysis.Then a controlled equation of SDOF structure by HERF damper was derived and a semi active control strategy based on optimal sliding displacement of damper was presented.The simulation results for a single story frame structure indicate that HERF,which may avoid some defects of common particles suspended ER fluids,is an excellent smart material with better stability.Using the semi active control strategy presented,HERF smart damper controlled could effectively reduce seismic responses of structures and keeps the control stable at all times.