OBSERVATION OF THE ELECTRORHEOLOGICAL EFFECT OF SILICONE OIL POLYMER PARTICLES SUSPENSION

A liquid insulator that suspends small particles is one of the electro rheological fluids (ERF) whose apparent viscosity becomes larger under an electric field because of the Formation of particle chains, Since many possible applications of ERF are expected, the development of a m ore practical ERF is required, We have investigated the ER effect of s ilicone oil in which small particles are suspended, Silica particles, silica particles coated by conductive polymer film, and polymer partic les (microcrystalline cellulose), with a diameter between 5 similar to 100 mu m, are investigated in order to clarify the difference between suspending materials, To measure the ER effect, a rotational viscomet er was constructed, It became clear that the shear stress for cellulos e particles is much stronger than that for other particles because of its peculiar particle chain formation due to the particle shape.