Measurement of the viscosity of dilute magnetic fluids

The capillary tube viscometer is used to measure the viscosity of aqueous magnetic fluids under the influence of parallel and perpendicular magnetic fields. The effects of the volume fraction of the suspended magnetic particles, the concentration of surfactants, and the external magnetic field strength, as well as the orientation, on the viscosity of the magnetic fluid are analyzed. The experimental results show that the viscosity of the sample magnetic fluids increases with increases in the concentrations of suspended magnetic particles and surfactants. The external magnetic field is also an important factor that affects the viscosity of the magnetic fluid. The viscosity first increases with the magnetic field and finally approaches a constant as the magnetization attains a saturation state. For the same magnetic fluid, the viscosity in a perpendicular magnetic field is larger than that in a parallel magnetic field for the same magnetic field.