The Dynamic Performance of an Electrorheological Fluid in Squeeze Flow under AC Excitation

Abstract

This paper is concerned with an experimental comparative assessment of the mechanical performance of an ER fluid in oscillatory squeeze flow under various AC conditions. Interest in this topic arose from the desire to employ the fluid in this way in a shortstroke vibration damper. In this investigation the fluid is sandwiched between two parallel plane electrodes, the upper one being fixed and the lower one vibrating normal to its plane. The magnitude of the transmitted force across the fluid is seen to be highly dependent on the shape of the input waveform, on the mechanical vibration frequency as well as on the electrical excitation frequency and level of applied voltage.