Publications [#14133] of Linda B. Smolka

Papers Published

1. L. B. Smolka and A. Belmonte, Drop pinch-off and filament dynamics of wormlike micellar fluids, J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech., vol. 115 (2003), pp. 1-25
   (last updated on 2003/11/21)

   Abstract:
   Observations are presented of several novel phenomena involved in the dynamics of a falling drop of viscoelastic micellar fluid. At low concentration, the cylindrical filament necks down and pinches off rapidly (~ 10 ms) at one location along the filament. After pinch-off the free filament ends retract and no satellite drops are formed. At higher concentrations, the pinch-off also occurs along the filament, but in a more gradual process (~ 1 s). Furthermore, the free filament ends do not fully retract, instead retaining some of their deformation. The falling drop is also observed to slow or even stop (stall) before pinch-off, indicating that sufficient elastic stress has built up to balance its weight. A detailed study of a simple model for the filament using the FENE-CR constitutive equation indicates that this stall occurs in the range of low solvent viscosity, high elasticity, and high molecular weight. At the highest concentrations a surface ``blistering'' instability is seen along the filament long before pinch-off occurs.