On constitutive equations for electrorheological materials (Q1805327)

A constitutive theory for electrorheological (ER) materials is presented which accounts for recent experimental observations. The stress is given by a functional of the deformation gradient history and the electric field vector. Using the methods of continuum mechanics, a general three- dimensional constitutive equation is obtained. A sample constitutive equation is introduced which is then used to determine the response of an ER material for different shear histories. The calculated shear response is shown to be qualitatively similar to that observed experimentally.