A numerical study of the deformation and burst of a viscous drop in general shear flows

Abstract

The time-dependent deformation and burst of a viscous drop in an arbitrary shear flow at zero Reynolds number is studied. The viscosities of the drop and the suspending fluid are assumed to be equal. A numerical scheme to track the (non-axisymmetric) drop shape in time is presented, and used to investigate the deformation induced by two-dimensional shear and orthogonal rheometer flows. Steady deformations, critical flow rates and burst modes are determined, and compared with asymptotic (small and large) deformation theories, and with experiment.