Crossover between surface tension and gravity-driven instabilities of a thin fluid layer on a horizontal cylinder
- 1 June 1997
- journal article
- Published by AIP Publishing in Physics of Fluids
- Vol. 9 (6) , 1599-1605
- https://doi.org/10.1063/1.869280
Abstract
A thin annular layer of fluid coating a cylinder is subject to two different instabilities. One, driven by surface tension, is analogous to the Rayleigh instability of a liquid jet. The other is the Rayleigh–Taylor instability, which is driven by gravity. Measurements of the wavelength and growth rate of periodic patterns of droplets which develop as a result of the instability of such a fluid layer are reported for cylinders with radius r in the range 0.0011<r<1.27 cm. For small r the wavelength and growth rate of the pattern are in agreement with theoretical predictions for the surface-tension-driven instability. For large r, the Rayleigh–Taylor instability is observed. At intermediate r there is a region of crossover between the two limiting cases.Keywords
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