A line sink in a flowing stream with surface tension effects

Abstract

We examine a problem in which a line sink causes a disturbance to an otherwise uniform flowing stream of infinite depth. We consider the fully non-linear problem with the inclusion of surface tension and find the maximum sink strength at which steady solutions exist for a given stream flow, before examining non-unique solutions. The addition of surface tension allows for a more thorough investigation into the characteristics of the solutions. The breakdown of steady solutions with surface tension appears to be caused by a curvature singularity as the flow rate approaches the maximum. The non-uniqueness in solutions is shown to occur for a range of parameter values in all cases with non-zero surface tension.