Suppression of dripping from a ceiling.
An isothermal layer suspended from a surface is gravitationally (Rayleigh-Taylor) unstable. We find that, when a vertical temperature difference DeltaT above a critical value (DeltaT)(c) is imposed across the liquid-gas layer system (heated from below), the restoring force provided by the temperature-dependent surface tension (thermocapillarity) can stabilize the layer. Our measurements of the most unstable wave number for DeltaT<(DeltaT)(c) agree well with our linear stability analysis. The instability occurs at long wavelengths: the most unstable wavelength at (DeltaT)(c) is infinite.
Burgess
J M
JM
Center for Nonlinear Dynamics and Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA.
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McCormick
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Swift
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Swinney
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