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Shrinking instability of toroidal droplets
Author(s)
Fragkopoulos, Alexandros A.
Pairam, Ekapop
Berger, Eric
Segre, Phil N.
Ferńandez-Nieves, Alberto
Date Issued
March 14, 2017
Type
Article
Abstract
Toroidal droplets are inherently unstable due to surface tension. They can break up, similar to cylindrical jets, but also exhibit a shrinking instability, which is inherent to the toroidal shape. We investigate the evolution of shrinking toroidal droplets using particle image velocimetry. We obtain the flow field inside the droplets and show that as the torus evolves, its cross-section significantly deviates from circular. We then use the experimentally obtained velocities at the torus interface to theoretically reconstruct the internal flow field. Our calculation correctly describes the experimental results and elucidates the role of those modes that, among the many possible ones, are required to capture all of the relevant experimental features.
Citation
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(11), 2871-2875, 2017