Dynamics of droplet breakup in a complex fluid
Presenter
July 16, 2008
Keywords:
- Fluid dynamics
MSC:
- 58D30
Abstract
The dynamics of droplet breakup in Newtonian fluids are
described by the Navier-Stokes equation. Previous experiments
have shown that in many cases
the breakup dynamics follow a self-similar behavior where
successive drop profiles can be scaled onto one another. In
visco-elastic systems however,
the Navier-Stokes equation is not sufficient to describe
breakup. In this talk we will describe droplet breakup in a
visco-elastic surfactant system
which forms micellar, lamellar, and reverse-micellar phases at
various concentrations. We present results of the dynamics of
breakup in this system
and compare these to previously studied Newtonian systems.