ELECTRORHEOLOGICAL FLUIDS RESPONSE UNDER MECHANICAL TESTING

In most research, ER fluids have been studied and characterized as if they were extremely viscous liquids. In this work, electrorheological fluids were characterized as solids and their mechanical properties in tensile, compression and shear tests were determined. Two different f luids were studied: one of them was made of starch in silicone fluid a nd the other was composed of carboxymethylcelullose (CMC) in silicone fluid. From the results we concluded that fluids made of CMC have a be tter performance than those made of starch and also that ER materials are more resistant to compression, tensile and shear stress, in this o rder. More precisely, ER fluids made of CMC have an elasticity modulus similar to that of rubber. They have tensile strength 600 to 10(4) ti mes lower than that of LDPE (low density polyethylene) and static yiel d stress 104 times lower than that of ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-sty rene terpolymer).