BEHAVIOR OF MR FLUIDS AT HIGH SHEAR RATE

Abstract

The high shear rate behavior of MR fluids is investigated using a concentric rotational cylinder viscometer fabricated in-house. The rotational cylinder viscometer is designed such that a high shear rate of up to 30,000 s-1 can be applied to the MR fluid in a pure shear flow mode. As a comparison, the maximum shear rate of a commercially available parallel disk type rheometer is only up to 1,000 s-1. To determine the shear rate of the MR fluid in the viscometer, an exact expression between torque and angular velocity is established. The yield stress and viscosity of the MR fluid is determined by fitting the expression into the measured torque and angular velocities, and the shear stress as a function of the shear rate is further derived. The magnetic filed strength across the fluid gap is determined based on an electromagnetic field analysis, and the yield stress and viscosity of the fluid as a function of the magnetic filed is established. Specifically, the stability of the MR fluid at high shear rate is also evaluated. Two commercially available MR fluids, i.e., Lord's MRF-132DG and MRF-140CG, are investigated using the rotational cylinder viscometer, and the testing results are compared to the manufacturer's data.