Smart Fluids, Their Properties and CFD Simulation of ElectroRheological Fluid Between Two Cylinders

Smart fluids are a type of fluids that their rheological properties (Viscosity, yield stress, etc.) change quickly (less than one milisecond) in the presence of an external actuator. These fluids are divided to two types: sensitive to electric and magnetic field, named electrorheological and magnetorheological fluids respectively. Smart fluids are mixture of an insulated fluid that micron-size particles are suspended therein. When electric or magnetic field is applied, particles form clusters which change fluid from liquid to quasi solid. This type of fluids can extremely used in the different industries like automotive, buildings, industrial valves, robotic, military industries and medical engineering. In this article, smart fluid’s structures, their clustering and properties have been discussed. Behavior of an electrorheological fluid (ERF) between two cylinders that inner cylinder rotates with constant angular velocity has been studied with FEMLAB V2.3 software. This software solves the governing equations by finite element method.