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Bifurcation of rotating liquid drops: results from USML-1 experiments in Space

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2006

T. G. Wang
Affiliation:
Center for Microgravity Research and Applications, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
A. V. Anilkumar
Affiliation:
Center for Microgravity Research and Applications, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
C. P. Lee
Affiliation:
Center for Microgravity Research and Applications, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
K. C. Lin
Affiliation:
Center for Microgravity Research and Applications, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA

Abstract

Experiments on bifurcation of rotating liquid drops into two-lobed shapes were conducted during a Space shuttle flight. The drops were levitated in air and spinned using acoustic fields in the low-gravity environment. These experiments have successfully resolved the discrepancies existing between the previous experimental results and the theoretical predictions. In the simplest case of a rotating drop that is free from deformation by external forces, the results agree well with the existing theoretical predictions. In the case of a rotating drop subjected to flattening by the acoustic radiation stress, deliberately or otherwise, the experiments suggest the existence of a family of curves, with the free drop as the limiting case.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1994 Cambridge University Press

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