Comparison of electrorheological fluids based on silicone oil and liquid crystalline materials

Liquid-crystalline (LC) materials have the unique property of self-organisation. They also exhibit physical properties that are anisotropic in nature. It is believed that these properties can be employed to improve the electrorheological effect of electrorheological (ER) fluids having liquid crystals as the dielectric base. Experimental measurements of the steady-state characteristics, under various operating conditions, of such an LC-based ER fluid are presented and compared with those from two conventional silicone-based fluids. It is shown that, when used in a variety of control regimes, the LC-based ER fluid exhibits a far superior performance.