STUDY OF FLOWS INDUCED IN THE VICINITY OF CONDUCTING PARTICLES BY AN EXTERNAL ELECTRIC-FIELD

An experimental study is made of flows which develop in the neighborhood of electrically conducting spherical particles in distilled water when acted upon by a variable external electric field. It is established that the character of the flow depends on the parameters of the field and particle size. One reason for the creation of the flow is the quadratic (with respect to the field) effect of electroosmotic motion of the fluid over the particle surfaces. This motion is due to the generation of free polarization charges at the phase boundary. Empirical relations are obtained to describe the dependence of flow velocity on the strength and frequency of the electric field.