PREDICTION OF ELECTRORHEOLOGICAL VALVE PERFORMANCE IN STEADY FLOW

Previous work has indicated that electro-rheological (ER)fluid in stea dy valve flow can be approximately characterized by the dimensionless parameters friction coefficient, Reynolds number and Hedstrom number a nd the Bingham plastic constitutive equation, and has pointed towards a relationship between tests on valves of various dimensions at differ ent excitations and speeds of flow and comparatively small volume, qui ck, static clutch mode tests. In this paper, the position is extended and developed more precisely. The generalized valve flow characteristi c is taken, together with simple static clutch determinations of fluid yield properties, zero volt viscosity and valve dimensions to predict valve pressure/flow performance for comparison with valve test data. The static clutch test rig and test procedure are described, and the r elationship between static clutch and valve flow determinations of yie ld stress is then further examined.