Single particles accelerate final stages of capillary break-up

¹ PMMH-ESPCI - 10, rue Vauquelin, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
² Gravitation Group, TATA Institute of Fundamental Research - 1 Homi Bhabha Rd., 400005 Mumbai, India
³ Experimentalphysik, Universität des Saarlandes - Postfach 151150, 66041 Saarbrücken, Germany

Received: 22 April 2015
Accepted: 12 June 2015

Abstract

Droplet formation of suspensions is present in many industrial and technological processes such as coating and food engineering. Whilst the finite-time singularity of the minimum neck diameter in capillary break-up of simple liquids can be described by well-known self-similarity solutions, the pinching of non-Brownian suspension depends in a complex way on the particle dynamics in the thinning thread. Here we focus on the very dilute regime where the filament contains only isolated beads to identify the physical mechanisms leading to the pronounced acceleration of the filament thinning observed. This accelerated regime is characterized by an asymmetric shape of the filament with an enhanced curvature that depends on the size and the spatial distribution of the particles within the capillary thread.