Basic characteristics of ER gel on one-sided structured electrodes (2nd report) relation between structure of one-sided electrodes and ER effect using an opposed metal material

Electro-rheological Gel (ERG) is developed to overcome two defects of Electro-rheological Fluid (ERF); one is sedimentation of ER particles, the other is that the seal structure is needed to apply ERF to machine elements. The developed ERG is composed of ER particles and silicone gel. The ER particles are sustained by the gel component, and thus will not precipitate out, which suppresses the decrease in ER effect associated with precipitation. The ERG shows the wide range of shear stress variation in response to the applied electric field. This high performance of ERG is originated in a different mechanism from the ERFs. To apply the electric field to the ERG, it is necessary to sandwich the ERG between plane-parallel electrodes. However, it is not convenient for the practical use to wire the both of electrodes for high voltage supply. In this study, the one-sided structured electrodes are proposed in order to simplify the structure of the wiring. When the conductive material is used as the opposed plate, the basic characteristics of ERG on one-sided electrodes are evaluated numerically and experimentally. The result shows that ER effect depends on the electrode pattern. Moreover, the yield stress of ERG on one-sided electrodes can be calculated by using the result of electric field analysis and the relation of parallel electrodes between electric field and yield stress.