The behaviour of a floating water bridge under reduced gravity conditions

Abstract

When high voltage is applied to pure water filled into two beakers close to each other, a connection forms spontaneously, giving the impression of a floating water bridge (Armstrong 1893 The Electrical Engineer pp 154–45, Uhlig W 2005 personal communication, Fuchs et al 2007 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 40 6112–4 , Fuchs et al 2008 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 41 185502 , Fuchs et al 2009 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 42 065502 , Fuchs et al 2010 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 43 105502 , Woisetschläger et al 2010 Exp. Fluids 48 121–31, Nishiumi and Honda 2009 Res. Lett. Phys. Chem. 2009 371650). This phenomenon is of special interest, since it comprises a number of phenomena currently tackled in modern water science. In this work, the behaviour of this phenomenon under reduced gravity conditions during a parabolic flight is presented by the means of high speed imaging with fringe projection. An analysis of the behaviour is presented and compared with theoretical considerations.