COMPUTATIONAL STUDIES OF COMPRESSED AND SHEARED ELECTRORHEOLOGICAL FLUID

Mechanical properties of electrorheological suspensions are studied wi th computer simulations using a point-dipole model. The behaviour of t hese fluids is compared under constant-rate compressive and shear stra ining. The mechanisms of local deformations in single chains under str aining are discussed. Also structures which have been grown before str aining under the influence of electric field have been studied. In the se structures the ratios of compression and shearing were found to hav e a significant effect on the corresponding yield stresses. The tensil e yield stress was found to be about an order of magnitude larger than the sheared yield stress.