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The viscous catenary

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2003

J. TEICHMAN
Affiliation:
Hatsopoulos Microfluids Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
L. MAHADEVAN
Affiliation:
Hatsopoulos Microfluids Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA Present address: Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA, UK.

Abstract

A filament of an incompressible highly viscous fluid that is supported at its ends sags under the influence of gravity. Its instantaneous shape resembles that of a catenary, but evolves with time. At short times, the shape is dominated by bending deformations. At intermediate times, the effects of stretching become dominant everywhere except near the clamping boundaries where bending boundary layers persist. Finally, the filament breaks off in finite time via strain localization and pinch-off.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press

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