A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DIELECTRIC PERMITTIVITY OF THE NEMATIC CONTINUOUS-PHASE MATERIAL AND THE SHEAR STRESSES OF ELECTRORHEOLOGICAL FLUIDSCONTAINING LIQUID-CRYSTALLINE MATERIALS

Further investigations into the behaviour of electro-rheological fluid s containing liquid crystalline materials have been made. Dramatic cha nges in the shear stresses of such suspensions have been observed arou nd the temperature at which the liquid crystalline component undergoes a change of phase from the nematic to the isotropic phase. The temper ature profile of shear stress is predicted to be mirrored by that of t he mean dielectric permittivity of the liquid crystalline component in the electro-rheological fluid.