Frequency and water content dependencies of electrorheological properties

The static yield stress and complex dielectric constant of glass spheres dispersed in vacuum oil are measured as a function of (applied electric field) frequency and water content. Based on a model in which the dielectric constants of the solid and the liquid constituents are given by the Debye form with a log-normal distribution of relaxation times, it is shown that the electrical and the mechanical electrorheological responses can be consistently explained through first-principles calculations.