title: Electrorheological fluid dynamics.
abstract: We use the Onsager principle to derive a two-phase continuum formulation for the hydrodynamics of the electrorheological (ER) fluid, consisting of dielectric microspheres dispersed in an insulating liquid. Predictions of the theory are in excellent agreement with the experiments. In particular, it is shown that whereas the usual configuration of applied electric field being perpendicular to the shearing direction can lead to shear thinning at high shear rates and thus the loss of ER effect, the interdigitated, alternating electrodes configuration can eliminate the shear-thinning effect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Jianwei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiuqing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Weijia
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sheng