EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF THE ADHESION PROPERTIES AND 
DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF THE SPREADING OF AN ELECTRORHEOLOGICAL 
LIQUID UNDER ELECTRIC ACTION

E. V. Korobko, N. A. Goncharova, R. G. Gorodkin, and V. I. Baikov

UDC 532.64

A study is made of the action of a constant electric field 
on the process of spreading of a droplet of an electrorheological 
liquid. It has been revealed that the effective viscosity, the surface 
tension, and the equilibrium contact angle of the electrorheological-liquid 
droplet and the adhesion properties of the liquid depend on the electric-field 
strength, all other things being equal. During the series of experiments, 
the influence of surfactants as part of the electrorheological liquids 
on the value of the contact angle and the rate of spreading of the 
electrorheological-liquid droplet on the substrate has been evaluated. 
The experimental-theoretical investigations carried out can be employed 
in developing the concept of using electrorheological liquids as film 
coatings and in other technologies.

A. V. Luikov Heat and Mass Transfer Institute, National 
Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus; email: man@hmti.ac.by. 
Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 76, No. 4, pp. 
36-39, July-August, 2003. Original article submitted November 
12, 2002.