Large amplitude oscillatory shear of ER suspensions (Q1303176)

We use a particle-level simulation method to investigate the dynamic behavior of monolayer electrorheological (ER) fluids. ER fluids are linear viscoelastic for only very small strain amplitudes. The transition to nonlinear deformation arises from very slight rearrangements of unstable structures. At large strain amplitudes, the behavior is viscoplastic, while at large dimensionless frequencies (\(\propto \omega/E^2_0\), where \(\omega\) is the oscillation frequency and \(E_0\) is the electric field strength), the response is Newtonian for all strain amplitudes. Simulation results agree qualitatively with experiments. The dependence of the flow behavior on the strain amplitude and dimensionless frequency is summarized in the form of a Pipkin diagram.