An experimental investigation of the break-up of a liquid drop falling in a miscible fluid
Year: 1989
Authors: Arecchi F.T., Buah-Bassuah P.K., Francini F., Pérez-Garcia C., Quercioli F.
Autors Affiliation: Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, Largo E. Fermi 6, 50125 Firenze, Italy
Department of Physics, University of Firenze, 50125 Firenze, Italy;
Department of Physics, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana;
Departament de Fisica, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona), Catalonia, Spain
Abstract: A liquid drop falling in a lighter miscible fluid either undergoes a cascade of fragmentations, each appearing as a dynamic instability, or it mixes by diffusion, depending on the value of a fragmentation number F. F is the ratio of the diffusion time to the time required for the fluid to convectively mix. We assign an accurate experimental value to the critical fragmentation number Fc, which appears to be universal. When the fragmentation occurs, the interfacial area increases via successive splittings which display striking symmetries. We present experimental evidence and a qualitative explanation of such a phenomenon.
Journal/Review: EUROPHYSICS LETTERS
Volume: 9 (4) Pages from: 333 to: 338
KeyWords: hydrodynamic stability and instabilityDOI: 10.1209/0295-5075/9/4/006Citations: 31data from “WEB OF SCIENCE” (of Thomson Reuters) are update at: 2024-12-08References taken from IsiWeb of Knowledge: (subscribers only)Connecting to view paper tab on IsiWeb: Click hereConnecting to view citations from IsiWeb: Click here