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Updated: May 27, 2026

Glass-Based Devices to Generate Drops and Emulsions
Published on: April 5, 2022
Transient electrohydrodynamics of a liquid drop
Asghar Esmaeeli1, Payam Sharifi
1Department of Mechanical Engineering and Energy Processes, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois 62901, USA. esmaeeli@engr.siu.edu
Abstract:
The transient behavior of a leaky dielectric liquid drop under a uniform electric field of small strength is investigated. It is shown that for small distortion from a spherical shape, the drop deforms to an ellipsoid, and the deformation time history is represented by D=D(∞)[1-exp(-t/τ)], where D(∞) is the steady-state deformation and τ=(aμ(o)/γ)(19μ+16)(2μ+3)/(40μ+40)is the characteristic time, a, γ, μ(o) and μ being the drop radius, the surface tension, the viscosity of ambient fluid, and ratio of the drop viscosity to that of the ambient fluid, respectively. The contributions of the net normal and tangential electrical stresses in the degree of deformation and fluid flow strength are also determined.
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