In the steady-state mode, since the normal component of the electric field to the charge cloud is zero, its tangential component induces the ICEO flow. The ICEO around a polarizable object (Fig. 1A, iii ) or electrode (Fig. 1B ) can induce micro-vortices (MVs) around the object.

Helmholtz–Smoluchowski formula can be used to find the local slip ICEO velocity around the conducting object (equations 4) (Todd M Squires & Bazant, 2004).