Giant Electrorheological (GER) fluids change their flow properties dramatically when an electric field is applied. These fluids are usually composed of dispersions of polarizable particles in an insulating base fluid. In contrast to the existing electrorheological (ER) fluids, GER particles consisting of oxalate core with urea coating are found oil sensitive. The main objective of this thesis research is to investigate the wetting characteristics of the giant electrorheological (GER) particles suspended in different types of oil. The experimental results indicated that hydrogen bonds of the oil chains are instrumental in linking the oil to the GER particles, thus the highest yield stress of GER fluid was obtained when hydrogenated silicone oil was used as a suspending phase. In this the...[ Read more ]

Giant Electrorheological (GER) fluids change their flow properties dramatically when an electric field is applied. These fluids are usually composed of dispersions of polarizable particles in an insulating base fluid. In contrast to the existing electrorheological (ER) fluids, GER particles consisting of oxalate core with urea coating are found oil sensitive. The main objective of this thesis research is to investigate the wetting characteristics of the giant electrorheological (GER) particles suspended in different types of oil. The experimental results indicated that hydrogen bonds of the oil chains are instrumental in linking the oil to the GER particles, thus the highest yield stress of GER fluid was obtained when hydrogenated silicone oil was used as a suspending phase. In this thesis, a pilot scale production line is design to fabricate consistent GER fluids. The well-maintained quality GER fluids were then performed on a unique damping system and successfully demonstrated consistent results of ranging from 300N to 1500N with an applied voltage of 0kV/mm to 3kV/mm. The performance demonstrated a promising application for an automotive semi-active suspension in the near future.