Abstract
A liquid drop on a horizontal plane is in a metastable state. Its energy is independent of its position. In a microgravity environment, this is likewise true for liquid drops in a spherical container. Apart from these trivial cases, several container shapes with exotic properties are considered in this chapter. It is possible to construct cylindrical container shapes (so-called proboscides) in which liquid surfaces with equal curvatures but different energies and volumes are possible, so that dp/dV = 0. The wedges in these containers are wetted by a fluid only if the contact angle falls short of a critical contact angle. However, at infinitesimal fill levels, the capillary underpressure which causes the fluid to wet the wedges does not diverge towards infinity as for planar wedges.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Chen A, Concus P, Finn R: On cylindrical container sections for a capillary free-surface experiment. AIAA Paper 95-0271 (1995) 1–8
Chen A, Concus P, Finn R, Weislogel M: On cylindrical container sections for a capillary free surface experiment. Microgravity Sci. Technol. 9 (1997) 169–174
Concus P, Finn R: Instability of certain capillary surfaces. Manuscr. Math. 63 (1989) 209–213
Concus P, Finn R: Capillary surfaces in microgravity. In: Progress in Low-Gravity Fluid Dynamics and Transport Phenomena. J.N. Koster, R.L. Sani (eds.). Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics 130. AIAA Washington (1990) 183–205
Concus P, Finn R: Exotic containers for capillary surfaces. J. Fluid Mech. 224 (1991) 383–394
Concus P, Finn R, Weislogel MM: Drop-tower experiments for capillary surfaces in an exotic container. AIAA J. 55 (1992) 134–137
Concus P, Finn R, Weislogel M: Measurement of critical contact angle in a microgravity space experiment. Exp. Fluids 28 (2000) 197–205
Finn R, Leise TL: On the canonical proboscis. Zeit. Anal. Anwend. 13 (1994) 443–462
Finn R, Matek JM: The modified canonical proboscis. Zeit. Anal. Anwend. 15 (1996) 95–108
Finn R: Nonuniqueness and uniqueness of capillary surfaces. Manuscr. Math. 61 (1988) 347–372
Fischer B, Finn R: Non-existence theorems and measurement of capillary contact angle. Zeit. Anal. Anwend. 12 (1993) 405–423
Gulliver R, Hildebrandt S: Boundary configurations spanning continua of minimal surfaces. Manuscr. Math. 54 (1986) 323–347
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Langbein, D. (2002). Playing with Stability. In: Langbein, D. (eds) Capillary Surfaces. Springer Tracts in Modern Physics, vol 178. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45267-2_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45267-2_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-41815-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-45267-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive