Dynamics of axisymmetric slender liquid bridges in isorotation

Abstract

The dynamics of axisymmetric slender liquid bridges in isorotation under microgravity conditions is studied. Slendernesses of the bridge very close to the static stability limit for cylindrical bridges are considered. The inviscid three-dimensional problem is solved in the neighborhood of that stability limit following a regular perturbation approach. A nonlinear model where the pressure and velocity fields are coupled with the free-surface deformation is obtained. The free-surface deformation in the case of stable configurations is analyzed. The effect of Coriolis forces in the dynamics of the bridge turns out to be very important: for large values of the rotation speed the movement of the free surface is very irregular, and its amplitude is much smaller than that in the case of small rotation.