• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.35-42
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• 2008

An inverse ferrofluid composed of micron sized polymethylmethacrylate particles dispersed in ferrofluid was used to investigate the effects of test duration times on determining the flow curves of these materials under constant magnetic field. The results showed that flow curves determined using low duration times were most likely not measuring the steady state rheological response. However, at longer duration times, which are expected to correspond more to steady state behaviour, we noticed the occurrence of plateau and decreasing flow curves in the shear rate range of $0.004\;s^{-1}$ to ${\sim}20\;s^{-1}$, which suggest the presence of nonhomogeneities and shear localization in the material. This behaviour was also reflected in the steady state results from shear start up tests performed over the same range of shear rates. The results indicate that care is required when interpreting flow curves obtained for inverse ferrofluids.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.35-42
• /
• 2007

The effects of particle size distribution on the magnetorheological response of inverse ferrofluids was investigated using controlled mixtures of two monodisperse non-magnetisable powders of sizes $4.6\;{\mu}m\;and\;80{\mu}m$ at constant volume fraction of 30%, subjected to large amplitude oscillatory shear flow. In the linear viscoelastic regime (pre-yield region), it was found that the storage and loss moduli were dependent on the particle size as well as the proportion of small particles, with the highest storage modulus occurring for the monodisperse small particles. In the nonlinear regime (post yield region), Fourier analysis was used to compare the behaviour of the $1^{st}\;and\;3^{rd}$ harmonics ($I_{1}\;and\;I_{3}\;respectively$) as well as the fundamental phase angle as functions of the applied strain amplitude. The ratio of $I_{3}/I_{1}$ was found to become more pronounced with decreasing particle size as well as with increasing proportion of small particles in the bidisperse mixtures. Furthermore, the phase angle was able to clearly show the transition from solid-like to viscous behaviour. The results suggested that the nonlinear response of a bidisperse IFF is dependent on particle size as well as the proportion of small particles in the system.