2000/01/26 by U. Dassanayake, UJITHA M. DASSANAYAKE, Seth Fraden +3 · 2 citations
Engineering · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Material Dynamics and Properties #Seismic Performance and Analysis #Vibration Control and Rheological Fluids #cond-mat.soft
paper · pdf · doi:10.1063/1.480933
Revised figures included in this version. See related webpage: http://www.elsie.brandeis.edu
arxiv created 2000/01/26 · openalex publication_date 2000/02/22 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Specially synthesized silica colloidal spheres with fluorescent cores were used as model electrorheological fluids to experimentally explore structure formation and evolution under conditions of no shear. Using confocal scanning laser microscopy we measured the location of each colloid in three dimensions. We observed an equilibrium body-centered tetragonal phase and several nonequilibrium structures such as sheet-like labyrinths and isolated chains of colloids. The formation of nonequilibrium structures was studied as a function of the volume fraction, electric field strength, and starting configuration of the colloid. We compare our observations to previous experiments, simulations, and calculations.