Electric effects on the rheology of insulating oils in electrodes with flocked fabric

The rheological behavior of insulating oils is studied in nonuniform electric fields which are generated by an electrode covered with flocked fabric. Although the oils show no electrorheological effects in uniform fields between metal electrodes with smooth surfaces, the flocked fabric leads to a striking increase of viscosity in steady shear. The viscosity enhancement increases with decreasing zero-field viscosity and decreasing conductivity of oils. In the limit of zero shear rate, the oils with low conductivity behave as solids with yield stress. When a very small quantity of fine particles is introduced into electrified oils without shear, a rapid and large-scale motion of particles is observed between the tips of fibers and the plate electrode. The local motion of fluids in high electric fields is referred to as electrohydrodynamic (EHD) convection. Periodic patterns of circulation flow are formed in static oils. The electric energy which is dissipated during the circulation motion contributes to holding the periodic flow in static oils. When the stress is very low, the periodic patterns are not broken down. The yield stress corresponds to the force required to rupture the domain structures of EHD convection. In shear fields, the additional energy may be required to change the periodic patterns of EHD convection. The striking increase of viscosity in steady shear can be attributed to the interactions between EHD convection and external shear. Received: 31 August 1998 Accepted: 17 February 1999     

Electrorheology of dielectric liquids

Dielectric liquids that show striking electrorheological (ER) effects are formulated by controlling the conductivity. Although the viscosity is increased on the application of a d.c. field, the flow of electrified fluids is Newtonian in the plain electrodes with smooth surfaces. When the liquids are sandwiched between the electrodes with flocked fabrics, the viscosity behavior is converted from Newtonian to shear-thinning flow. In electric fields, the convective flow is induced over the system due to the electrohydrodynamic(EHD) effect. The interactions between EHD convection and external shear give rise to the additional energy dissipation and in turn the increase in viscosity. The ER effects of simple liquids are very attractive in application to new fluid devices.     

Electrorheology of dilute suspensions induced by hydrodynamic instability

The viscosity behavior in electric fields was measured for dilute suspensions of p-[perfluoro(2-isopropyl-1,3-dimethyl-1-butenyl)oxy]benzoic acid particles (PFNA) in silicone oils. The application of electric fields causes a viscosity increase in a wide range of shear rates. Since the electrorheological (ER) effect is much stronger at low shear rates, the flow becomes shear-thinning. However, contrary to conventional ER suspensions which are reversibly converted between Newtonian fluids and Bingham solids, the PFNA suspensions are fluids even in electric fields. When the particle concentration is increased to 5 wt.%, the ER effect reaches saturation. Further increase does not contribute to additional viscosity enhancement. These results cannot be explained through the chain formation mechanism established for conventional systems. After the ER experiments, the bob surface of the rheometer is covered with several stripes of aggregated particles. Although the strength of electric and shear fields is constant in the rheometer, the periodic structure may be formed in the flow of electrified suspensions. When a dielectric liquid is subjected to high electric fields, the secondary motion of liquid can be induced by the Coulomb force acting on free charge. The electrohydrodynamic (EHD) convection is responsible for the periodic distribution of particles concentration. The ER effect of PFNA suspensions may be generated by a combined effect of EHD convection and external shear.     

Measuring static yield stress of electrorheological fluids using the slotted plate device

An electrorheological (ER) response is defined as the dramatic change in rheological properties of a suspension of small particles due to the application of a large electric field transverse to the direction of flow. ER fluids are typically composed of nonconducting or semiconducting particles dispersed in a nonconducting continuous phase. A sufficiently large electric field will cause ER fluids to solidify, giving rising to a yield stress. Many applications in torque and stress transfer devices were proposed employing the reversible yielding behavior of ER fluids. Successful applications depend on a large yield stress of ER fluids and therefore accurate measurements of the yield stress of ER fluids are required. Reported experimental yield stresses of ER fluids have been dynamic yield stresses obtained by extrapolating the shear stress–shear rate data to zero-shear rate. It would be very helpful to the understanding of ER behaviors and the applications of ER fluids to be able to measure the static yield stress of ER fluids accurately. The slotted plate technique has been shown to be a successful method to determine the static yield stress of suspensions. The values obtained via the slotted plate method are static yield stress as the platform is designed for extremely low-speed motion. In this study, we modified the slotted plate device for the application of large electric fields and measured the static yield stress of TiO₂ ER fluids under various electric fields. The measured static yield stress values are also compared with the static yield stress values from a commercial rheometer.     

Dynamic responses of electrorheological fluid in steady pressure flow

The dynamic responses of the electrorheological fluid in steady pressure flow to stepwise electric fields are investigated experimentally. First of all, the transient responses of the ER fluid under various electric field strengths and flow velocities are obtained from the pressure behaviors in the flow channel with two parallel-plate electrodes. The response times are exponentially decreased with the increase of the flow velocity and the decrease of the electric field strength. Next, the relationship between the dynamic pressure behaviors of the ER fluid and the cluster structure formation processes of the ER particles is investigated using the flow visualization technique. Through the comparison study, it is verified that the dynamic responses of the ER fluid in the flow mode are mainly caused by the cluster densification process in the competition of the electric field-induced particle attraction and the hydrodynamic force, unlike those in the shear mode determined by the particle aggregation process.     

Electrorheologial properties of hematite/silicone oil suspensions under DC fields

Electrorheological (ER) fluids composed of α-Fe₂O₃ (hematite) particles suspended in silicone oil are studied in this work. The rheological response has been characterized as a function of field strength, shear rate and volume fraction. Rheological tests under DC electric fields elucidated the influence of the electric field strength, E, and volume fraction, ϕ, on the field-dependent yield stress, τ_y. It was found that this quantity scales with E and ϕ with a linear and parabolic dependence, respectively. The viscosities of electrified suspensions were found to increase by several orders of magnitude as compared to the unelectrified suspension at low shear rates, although at high-shear rates hydrodynamic effects become dominant and no effects of the electric field on the viscosity are observed. The work is completed with the analysis of microscopic observations of the structure acquired by the ER fluid upon application of a constant electric field. Electrohydrodynamic convection is found to be the origin of the ER response rather than the commonly admitted particle fibrillation. This fact can provide an explanation to the relationship between yield stress and electric field strength as well as the pattern of periodic structures observed in the measurement geometries.     

Effect of additives and measurement procedure on the electrorheology of hematite/silicone oil suspensions

The effects of measuring procedures and activating additives on the electrorheological (ER) behaviour of hematite/silicone oil suspensions are analysed. The structures built up in the presence of an electric field without shear are stronger than those produced with both electric and shear fields simultaneously applied. Such differences are measurable when the field strength is not high enough to dominate over hydrodynamic interactions. Regarding the effect of additives, the ER response is enhanced by water until a certain maximum amount, beyond which the effect decreases. The increase in water concentration also leads to higher values of the electric current. Similar results are observed when Brij 30 is used. However, this surfactant only raises the yield stress at low fields. Contrary to water, the surfactant forms droplets in solution, instead of adsorbing on the hematite surface. At sufficiently high field strengths, the droplets can coalesce, enclosing the hematite particles and thus reducing the overall ER effect.     

Velocity-profile deformation in EHD flow in a two-dimensional channel

The study of unipolar-charged fluids in the presence of external and induced electric fields has recently taken on great importance. The characteristics of one-dimensional EGD flows [1, 2] and developed laminar flows of a viscous fluid [3] have been clarified in several studies made in this field. However, the study of three-dimensional flows of such media is actually just beginning. Here, along with the analysis of three-dimensional boundary layers and jets [4], there is considerable interest in the study of spatial (two-dimensional and three-dimensional) EHD flows of an inviscid fluid, since in many engineering devices the zone of interaction of the flow with the electric fields does not exceed a few channel diameters, which makes it possible to neglect viscous effects.In this paper we examine some aspects of two-dimensional EHD flows of a viscous incompressible medium for infinitely large electric Reynolds numbers. The perturbations of the hydrodynamic parameters of the flow downstream from the zone of action of the electrostatic forces are determined. It is shown that in many cases the flow parameters outside this zone may be determined without solving the complete system of EHD partial differential equations.     

体积分数对基于沸石和硅油的悬浮液的电流变性能的影响

用 HAAKE RV2 0型流变仪 ,在不同外加电场强度和不同颗粒体积分数下测试了基于沸石和硅油的电流变液的剪切应力变化 .结果表明 :随着外加电场强度升高 ,电流变液的零电场粘度急剧增加 ,电流变液的剪切屈服应力增加 ;随着电流变液中沸石颗粒体积分数升高 ,电流变液的剪切屈服强度急剧上升 .这种变化可以用颗粒间作用力与颗粒间距的关系、单位面积的颗粒链数目变化以及多体作用对电流变液性能的影响来解释     

A numerical investigation of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) effects on bubble deformation under pseudo-nucleate boiling conditions

In this article, the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) effects on nucleate boiling are studied by developing a numerical modelling of EHD effect on bubble deformation in pseudo-nucleate boiling conditions. The volume of fluid (VOF) method is employed to track the interface between the gas–liquid two phases; the user-defined code is written and added to the commercial software FLUENT to solve the electric field and the corresponding electric body force. On this basis, the model is applied to study the EHD effects on heat transfer and fluid flows. An initial air bubble surrounded by liquid CCl₄ and attached to a horizontal superheated wall under the action of electric field is studied. The results of the EHD effect on bubble shape evolution are compared with those of available experiments showing good agreement. The mechanism of EHD enhancement of heat transfer and the EHD induced phenomena including bubble elongation and detachment are analyzed in detail.     

Micro/nano-structured montmorillonite/titania particles with high electrorheological activity

A low-cost electrorheological (ER) material made of micro/nano-structured montmorillonite/titania particles was prepared by a one-pot solvothermal method. The micro/nano-structured particles were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectra, and scanning electron microscopy. It was found that the nanorod-like titania assembled on the surface of montmorillonite, the diameters of the nanorods were about 30 nm, and the lengths were about 300 nm. The electrorheological property of the micro/nano-structured particles in silicone oil was measured under dc electric fields. It was found that the micro/nano-structured montmorillonite/titania ER fluid exhibited much stronger electrorheological effect compared to pure montmorillonite and pure titania nanorod ER fluids, while its leaking current density was significantly lower than that of montmorillonite ER fluid. The stronger electrorheological effect might be attributed to the larger interfacial polarization and interparticle friction, which originated from the unique structure and morphology of micro/nano-structured particles, compared to pure montmorillonite and pure titania nanorods.     

电流变体粘弹性能的实验研究

电流变体是智能材料与结构中一种重要的致动器材料。本文对电流变体在电场作用下的粘弹性特性进行了实验研究。使用旋转式流变仪对表征流体粘性的蠕变特性进行了测试。同时,对电流变体进行了强制振荡试验,测试了流体在不同应力幅值、应力频率下的剪切模量主变化,得到了电流变体的复剪切模量以及剪切存储模量、损耗模量承承中电场变化的规律。     

活性流体流变行为的布朗动力学模拟研究

活性流体在用于开发新材料方面具有巨大潜力, 满足这一需求就要定量掌握活性流体所表现的特殊力学行为, 特别是流变行为. 扩展布朗运动方程, 建立自驱动活性粒子的运动模型, 基于反向非平衡法确定活性流体的黏度, 考察活性粒子体积分数、直行速度和转向扩散系数对活性流体流变行为的影响规律, 确定活性流体特殊流变行为的形成机理. 结果表明, 活性流体的流变曲线可被划分为黏度下降区、过渡区和牛顿区; 活性粒子体积分数越高, 活性流体的非牛顿特性越显著, 活性粒子的直行运动引起活性流体在低剪切速率区域黏度下降, 直行运动和转向运动的耦合作用导致中剪切速率区域流变曲线非单调变化, 活性粒子频繁发生转向运动会导致活性流体非牛顿特性受到抑制; 活性流体的宏观流变学特性和粒子的涨落直接相关, 活性粒子体积分数越高、直行速度越快和转向扩散系数越小, 活性流体中活性粒子越容易产生显著的涨落; 低剪切速率区域内活性粒子涨落明显, 随着剪切速率增大, 活性粒子的涨落逐渐被削弱, 粒子的聚集结构不断被破坏, 最终体系的流变行为类似一般被动流体.      

电场作用下气泡上升行为特性的数值计算研究

利用电场控制气泡形态及运动,强化气液相间传热传质是电流体动力学的重要研究内容之一. 然而目前多数研究集中在非电场下的气泡动力学上,对于电场下的气泡行为特性及电场的作用机制仍需开展深入研究. 本研究对电场作用下单个气泡在流体中上升过程的动力学行为进行了数值模拟研究. 在建立二维模型的基础上求解电场方程与Navier-Stokes方程,并采用水平集方法捕捉了上升气泡的位置及形状. 模拟结果的准确性与有效性通过与前人实验和数值结果进行对比得到了验证. 通过改变雷诺数、邦德数和电邦德数等不同参数研究了电场下液体黏度、表面张力和电场力对气泡运动变形的影响. 计算结果表明,电场对气泡的动态特性有显著影响. 非电场情况下液体黏度和表面张力较大时气泡基本维持球状,反之气泡发生变形并逐步达到稳定状态. 此外,电场作用使气泡在初始上升阶段发生剧烈形变,随着不断上升,气泡形变程度不断减小,且气泡的上升速度和长径比均出现振荡. 垂直电场使气泡的上升速度有较大的提高,且随着电邦德数的增大,难以达到相对稳定的状态.      

The effect of volume relaxation on elastohydrodynamic lubrication

In elastohydrodynamic lubrication (EHD) three important non-Newtonian effects arise. These are volume viscoelasticity, shear viscoelasticity, and the variation of viscosity with shear rate. All these effects tend to decrease the shear stress or traction.In this paper the effect of volume relaxation of EHD is examined using experimental viscosity data obtained in a simple viscometric flow. It is shown that the viscosity of a fluid during EHD is unlikely to reach its equilibrium value. Approximations to the viscosity as a function of time lead to the conclusion that volume and shear viscoelasticity have effects which are of the same order of magnitude and will be difficult to separate except by an exact knowledge of the shear rate and pressure profiles.     

An experimental study of electrorheological fluid flow through a packed bed of glass beads

This paper shows that pressure drop-flow rate performance of an electrorheological (ER) fluid flowing through a packed bed of glass beads is consistent with a modified Ergun equation for yield stress flow through a packed bed. ER fluids are of scientific and engineering interest due to the sensitivity of their rheological properties on the applied electric field. As far as we know ER fluids have not been studied for flows through porous media. In this work a silica particle–silicone oil suspension is pumped through a rectangular packed bed of glass beads with applied electric fields. The silica particles are observed to form fibrous structures parallel to the electric field that stretch between the beads and extend between the electrodes. The pressure drop-flow rate performance agrees well with the expected performance calculated from a modified Ergun equation for a yield stress fluid flow through the packed bed with the viscosity and yield stress as functions of the applied electric field.     

Electrorheological properties of PDMS/carbon black suspensions under shear flow

Suspensions of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) containing low amounts (1 wt.% or less) of a highly conducting carbon black (CB) filler are rendered conductive and exhibit electrorheological (ER) responses under shear flow when exposed to an externally applied AC electric field. The presence of columnar structures, consisting of CB particles aligned in the direction of the electric field is evidenced through optical microscopy experiments. The appearance of yielding behavior and positive ER response, manifested by an increase in the viscosity of the suspensions, depend strongly on the filler loading, strength of the electric field, magnitude of the shear field, and viscosity of the medium. The responses are stronger at low filler loadings, below the percolation threshold, and at very low shear rates, where the microstructure of the dispersed phase remains intact. At higher shear rates, corresponding to Mason numbers (Mn) above 1, the structure is disrupted and thus does not contribute to the observed shear stress. The rheological characterization is accompanied with admittance measurements, to demonstrate that the induced polarization forces between particles lead to the formation of electrically conductive structures within the polymer matrix. A critical comparison with the qualitative predictions based on the theory of induced dipole–dipole interactions shows that the theory is valid for these dilute systems.     

Dynamics and rheology of a dilute suspension of dipolar nonspherical particles in an external field: Part 1. Steady shear flows

Suspensions of small nonspherical particles having dipolar moments exhibit non-Newtonian behavior under the influence of shear and external fields. Numerical methods are presented for calculating the rheological and rheo-optical properties of dilute suspensions of Brownian particles having permanent dipoles subject to time-dependent shear and external fields. The numerical methods employ the Galerkin method of weighted residuals to solve the differential equation for the particle orientation distribution function. The steady-state shear flow intrinsic viscosity of suspensions of particles with sufficiently extreme aspect ratio is predicted to exhibit a maximum value attained for intermediate shear rates at selected field orientations. These numerical results provide valuable insight into the coupling which occurs between the effects of rotary Brownian motion, the hydrodynamic resistance of nonspherical particles, and the external torque exerted on dipolar particles. The results are applicable to both suspensions of magnetic particles and electrically dipolar particles.     

The effect of particle concentration inhomogeneities on the steady flow of electro- and magneto-rheological materials

The yield stresses of electro-rheological (ER) and magneto-rheological (MR) suspensions increase by orders of magnitude when electric or magnetic fields are applied across them. In the absence of the field, the materials are essentially Newtonian fluids. When ER or MR materials flow through thin laminar ducts, the effect of the finite yield stress concentrates the material deformation gradients in the immediate vicinity of the duct walls. High shear rates in this region introduce drag and lift forces on the suspended particles, the net effect of which moves the particles away from the walls. Electro- or magneto-static image forces at the walls oppose this lift. The ensuing local changes in the particulate volume fraction gives rise to a local inhomogeneity in material properties adjacent to the walls.Four models for the material property inhomogeneities are presented in this paper. Three of these models admit analytical expressions for the relationship between pressure gradient and volumetric flow rate, but presume a piecewise constant particle concentration. The fourth model presumes a smooth relationship between the volume fraction and the shear rate, but requires a numerical solution. Results are presented in terms of the ratio of pressure gradients that can be produced by applying and removing the field.Experimental data collected for a variety of quasi-steady ER flows shows that the analytical solution corresponding to a flow of uniform particle concentration provides an upper bound to the pressure gradients. Each of the four models for inhomogeneous flow provides a lower bound over a sub-domain of the flow conditions. By combining these models heuristically, a single expression for the lower bound on the pressure gradients of ER and MR flows is presented.     

Numerical modelling of electrovortex and heat flows in dc electric arc furnace with cooling bottom electrode

The article is devoted to the numerical modelling of electrovortex and convection flows in DC electric arc furnace with the cooling bottom electrode. The shear stress on the fettle area are offered as criteria for the estimation of vortex flows influence on the increased wearing of fettle. It is shown that cooling down the bottom electrode to the melting metal temperature leads to decrease of shear stress on the fettle area by 15 %.