Hexagon-stripe transition at the magnetic field induced phase transformations of the magnetorheological suspensions

The phase diagram of the magnetorheological suspension allowing for the modulated phases in the Hele-Shaw cell under the action of the normal field is calculated. The phase boundaries between the stripe, the hexagonal and the unmodulated phases in dependence on the layer thickness and the magnetic field strength are found. The existence of the transitions between the stripe and the hexagonal phases at the corresponding variation of the physical parameters is illustrated by the numerical simulation of the concentration dynamics in the Hele-Shaw cell. It is remarked that those transitions in the case of the magnetorheological suspensions can be caused by the compression or the expansion of the layer. Among the features noticed at the numerical simulation of the concentration dynamics in the Hele-Shaw cell are: the stripe patterns formed from the preexisting hexagonal structures are more ordered than arising from the initial randomly perturbed state; at the slightly perturbed boundary between the concentrated and diluted phases the hexagonal and the inverted hexagonal phases are formed and others.