Electrorheological characterization of zeolite suspensions

The rheological properties of the electrorheological (ER) fluids prepared f rom commercial zeolites 3A, 5A and 13X suspended in silicone oil were inves tigated through steady shear and oscillatory shear experiments. Dielectric spectra of the fluids were also measured to examine their possible correlat ion with the flow behavior of the ER fluids. Among the zeolite ER fluids in vestigated, the ER fluid using 13X showed the best performance and had the shortest relaxation time of an interfacial polarization. Viscoelastic behav ior was observed in the dynamic test under the applied electric field. The elasticity increased with the strength of the electric fields under linear viscoelastic conditions. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved .