Experimental analysis of stability limits of capillary liquid bridges

Abstract

This paper deals with the influence of axial microgravity on the stability limits of axisymmetric, cylindrical liquid columns held by capillary forces between two circular, concentric, solid disks. A fair number of experiments have been performed and both the maximum and the minimum volume of liquid that a capillary liquid bridge can withstand have been obtained as a function of the geometry of the liquid bridge and of the value of the axial microgravity acting on it. Experimental results are compared with published theoretical predictions made by other investigators and discrepancies between those results criticized.