MECHANISM OF STRESS TRANSMISSION FROM AN ELECTRORHEOLOGICAL FLUID TO THE ELECTRIC PLATES

We propose a new mechanism of stress transmission from an electrorheological fluid (ERF) to the electric plates. Employing the cubic particle chain model, we have calculated the force acting on the particle of chains spanning the electric plate gap. In a linear region between stress and strain, we have found that the friction force between the plate and the adjacent particle is very important to induce stress from an ERF. The friction force is also a key factor to determine which phenomena occur first, the particle chain breaks up or it begins to move on the plate.