Model of porous particles containing water in electro-rheological fluids

The authors propose a modification of their previous model which explains the effect of water on hydrous electro-rheological fluids, which are suspensions of porous particles containing water. Upon application of an electric field, water enters the gap between touching particles and adheres the particles to each other. The authors propose a model for estimating this effect and investigate by computer simulation how the aggregate structure and the viscosity depend on the water capillary force. They show that when the capillary force increases, the viscosity increases, but that the angular dependence of the adhesive force is important in the viscosity increment.