Electrically, Magnetically and Strain Field Assisted Smart/Functional Nano Fluids

Smart Nano fluids are special class of nano materials having ability to reversibly change their deformation and flow characteristics significantly with a response time of millisecond under the ordinance of magnetic field and/or stress- strain field. In this chapter we have discussed various ways of synthesising magnetic and shear thickening fluids, its characterisation aspects keeping the objective of achieving high yield stress and high viscosity without increasing the off-state viscosity. A noble approach of synthesising magnetic particles of high saturation magnetisation and a multidisperse suspension to enhance the packing fraction to fill the gaps and avoid agglomeration is discussed in detail. We have also discussed various ways of characterising the nanofluids using rheometry. We have mainly discussed the types of flow which are being generally used in application, for example, oscillatory and rotational flow behaviour characterisation methods which have been explained.