Stabilization of a cylindrical capillary bridge far beyond the Rayleigh–Plateau limit using acoustic radiation pressure and active feedback

Abstract

A novel method of suppressing the Rayleigh–Plateau capillary instability of a cylindrical liquid bridge is demonstrated which uses the radiation pressure of an ultrasonic wave to control the shape of the bridge. The shape of the bridge is optically sensed and the information used to control the spatial distribution of the radiation stress on the surface of the bridge. The feedback is phased so as to suppress the growth of the axisymmetric mode which normally becomes unstable when the slenderness, given by the length to diameter ratio, exceeds π. Stabilization is achieved out to a slenderness of 4.3 for a bridge density matched to the surrounding water bath in a Plateau tank. Breakup of such long bridges was found to produce a satellite drop from the receding thread of liquid. The active stabilization mechanism used may have application to other capillary systems.

Stability of a liquid bridge under vibration

“…As a result, the destabilizing effect of gravity can be weakened or even canceled altogether. A similar mechanism of stabilization has been observed experimentally using the radiation pressure of acoustic waves [20] and a surrounding flow of a different fluid [21,25]. This paper has the following structure.…”

Modes of Nonaxisymmetry in the Stability of Fixed Contact Line Liquid Bridges and Drops

“…The stability limit (L ≈ 8.6) and nature of the instability observed experimentally in the work of Marr-Lyon, Thiessen, and Marston (13), correspond roughly to the secondary constant volume instability (L ≈ 9).…”

Stability of liquid bridges between twisted elliptical disks

“…The first configuration studied in literature was a cylindrical shape held between two parallel, coaxial circular disks of the same diameter. The response of the mentioned configuration subjected to various disturbances has been studied, including the calculation of the equilibrium shapes and their stability limits (Slobozhanin and Perales, 1993;Slobozhanin and Alexander, 1998;Lowry and Steen, 1997;Marr-Lyon et al, 1997;Gonzalez and Castellanos, 1993;Mahajan et al, 1999;Parra et al, 2002;Luengo et al, 2003). The influence of different perturbations on the stability of liquid bridges has been extensively analyzed from both the theoretical and the experimental point of view.…”