| Structure formation of particle-based electrorheological fluids subject to a uniformly distributed electrical field is investigated by a numerical modeling and simulation method. The structure composites are considered to be electrically nonconducting. Particles are treated as hard polarizable spheres in a neutrally buoyant environment. The simulated structure formation is similar to the one observed in previous experiments and particle concentration is shown to have a significant influence with respect to the time of complete chaining and reaching a state near dynamic equilibrium. The simulation predicts that the higher the particle concentration, the shorter the time of aggregation. Numerical results, based on experimental input values, also replicates the trend observed in experiments using optical transmittance of energy through ER fluids. |
