Theoretical Analysis of the Vibration of Axisymmetric Liquid Bridges of Arbitrary Shape

Abstract.

A liquid bridge consists of a mass of liquid sustained by the action of capillary forces between two parallel disks. The dynamics of these liquid columns has been extensively analysed both theoretically and experimentally over the last decades. Many of the studies have focused on the dynamical response of cylindrical liquid bridges subjected to the action of an oscillatory microgravity field due to, for instance, an in-phase vibration of the supporting disks. There have been fewer studies dealing with the vibration of axisymmetric liquid bridges of arbitrary shape. In this paper the dynamics of rotating inviscid axisymmetric liquid bridges is analysed considering the combined effect of residual gravity, the inequality of the disks and the liquid bridge volume. The results are calculated numerically by using the one-dimensional Cosserat model and the full three-dimensional description. The excitation is assumed to be of small amplitude and harmonic, so that the theoretical models are linearized and the analysis is performed in the frequency domain. The details of the numerical methods proposed are discussed. Comparison between the values of the first resonance frequency obtained from both models shows an excellent agreement for long liquid bridges, the discrepancies increasing as the value of the slenderness decreases.