2001/06/14 by Y. L. Siu, Yuet-Lun Siu, Jones T. K. Wan +1 · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Geological and Geophysical Studies Worldwide #Seismic Performance and Analysis #Vibration Control and Rheological Fluids #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #cond-mat.soft
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.64.051506
published as Phys. Rev. E 64, 051506 (2001) · 22 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. E
arxiv created 2001/06/14 · openalex publication_date 2001/10/23 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We have employed the multiple image method to compute the interparticle force for a polydisperse electrorheological (ER) fluid in which the suspended particles can have various sizes and different permittivities. The point-dipole (PD) approximation, being routinely adopted in the computer simulation of ER fluids, is known to err considerably when the particles approach and finally touch due to multipolar interactions. The PD approximation becomes even worse when the dielectric contrast between the particles and the host medium is large. From the results, we show that the dipole-induced-dipole (DID) model yields very good agreements with the multiple image results for a wide range of dielectric contrasts and polydispersity. As an illustration, we have employed the DID model to simulate the athermal aggregation of particles in ER fluids, both in uniaxial and rotating fields. We find that the aggregation time is significantly reduced. The DID model partially accounts for the multipolar interaction and is simple to use in the computer simulation of ER fluids.