Fluid Surface Phenomena and Their Effect on the Motion of a Body Containing a Fluid

Abstract

In the preceding chapters of Part Two we have considered problems in which it was assumed that the fluid is acted upon only by mass forces, i.e., gravitational forces or inertial forces. The free surface of the fluid was considered as free of any stresses. For an extensive group of problems this model is completely satisfactory. But actually each real fluid is also subjected to surface tension forces and, when the mass forces are weak (for example, under conditions close to weightlessness), it is precisely the surface forces that determine the character of the fluid motion. Consequently, study of the dynamics of a body with a fluid under conditions of small overloads requires the consideration of more complex models that take into account the action of capillary forces. This chapter is devoted to the study of these models. We note that the study of the motion of a fluid subjected to surface tension forces is also of intrinsic interest.