Droplet detachment and satellite bead formation in viscoelastic fluids.
The presence of a very small amount of high molecular weight polymer significantly delays the pinch-off singularity of a drop of water falling from a faucet and leads to the formation of a long-lived cylindrical filament. In this Letter, we present experiments, numerical simulations, and theory which examines the pinch-off process in the presence of polymers. The numerical simulations are found to be in good agreement with experiment. As a test case, we establish the conditions under which a small bead remains on the filament; we find that the presence of a bead is due to the asymmetry induced by the self-similar pinch off of the droplet.
Wagner
C
C
Experimentalphysik, Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken, Germany. c.wagner@mx.uni-saarland.de
Amarouchene
Y
Y
Bonn
Daniel
D
Eggers
J
J