A numerical method for determining the shear stress of magnetorheological fluids using the parallel-plate measuring system

This work proposes a new numerical method for determining the shear stress, which does not need any preassumption about the exact behavior of the fluid to achieve absolute data using a parallel-plate measuring system. The ability for representing different behaviors along the entire shear-rate range makes this method particularly interesting for the study of magnetorheological (MR) fluids. In this work, the conversion factors used by the rheometer for concentric-cylinder, cone-plate, and parallel-plate measuring systems are first analyzed. This analysis shows that the software used by the rheometer is not appropriate for the quantitative characterization of non-Newtonian fluids using the parallel-plate measuring system. Therefore, a new method for conversion of the parameters measured by the rheometer to the rheological parameters of the fluid is proposed; simultaneously, this new method is compared with other correction methods proposed in the literature: the Rabinowitsch-type method and the single-point method. Finally, the proposed method is applied for the quantitative characterization of an MR fluid.