Electrostatic fiber spinning from polymer melts. III. Electrostatic deformation of a pendant drop of polymer melt

Abstract

Abstract It has been previously shown that fine jets can be drawn from polymer melts with the aid of an electric field. In an effort to understand the mechanism of jet formation, preliminary experiments have been carried out on the deformation of pendant drops of molten polymers(nylon 12 and polyethylene) subjected to an electric field. The drop deformation was measured as a function of field intensity and frequency, and the results were interpreted in terms of a theory due to Torza et al. It is shown that there is qualitative agreement between the theory and experimental observations. This permits the identification of the parameters influencing the drop deformation and leads to a qualitative picture of the mechanism of deformation.