Differences in the electrorheological response of a particle suspension under direct current and alternating current electric fields

We have observed an unusual reduction of shear stress with increasing shear rate under direct current electric fields, for an electrorheological fluid composed of sulfonated poly(styrene-co-divinyl-benzene) particles dispersed in silicone oil. At all shear rates, the shear stress under the electric field is larger than that in the absence of the field, indicating that there is still some field-induced agglomeration of the particles. In contrast, the behavior under alternating current electric fields is the Bingham-fluid-type response commonly observed with electrorheological fluids. It is suggested that the conventional dipole-dipole interaction approach based on simplified microstructural models would be unable to explain these phenomena.