Torque measurements on ferrofluid cylinders in rotating magnetic fields

We study the response of magnetic nanoparticle suspensions (ferrofluids) to uniform rotating magnetic fields generated by a two-pole three-phase magnetic induction motor stator winding. Measurements of the torque required to rotate a polycarbonate spindle submerged in ferrofluid subjected to co-rotating and counter-rotating fields yield experimental observations of negative magnetoviscosity in a cylindrical Couette geometry, conceptually similar to the observations of Bacri et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett. 75 (1995) 2128) in a Poiseuille flow under an oscillating magnetic field. Further measurements are presented for the torque required to restrain a spindle when it is (i) entirely filled with ferrofluid, (ii) entirely surrounded with ferrofluid, and (iii) both entirely filled and surrounded with ferrofluid. Some of the results for the spindle either entirely filled or entirely surrounded with ferrofluid are compared to theoretical expressions obtained from the ferrohydrodynamic equations using a rigorous regular perturbation expansion in the small parameter Ωτ, where Ω is the applied field frequency and τ is the effective magnetic relaxation time of the suspension.