Minimum energy configurations of ER-fluids

The dynamics of the structure formation of an electrorheological fluid cons isting of either one type of particles or with two types of particles is st udied numerically. In the latter case half of the suspension particles have dielectric constants greater and the the other half smaller than that of t he base fluid. In such a system the potential energy between interacting pa rticles depends also on the type of the particles such that the direction o f the force between different types of particles is complementary to the fo rce between identical particles. The simulation model is based on a dipole model by utilizing an Ewald method for taking long range interactions into account. The dipoles are not fixed but they are allowed to adapt to local s urroundings.