Investigation on Asymmetric Instability of Cylindrical Power-Law Liquid Jets

Abstract

An investigation has been performed to reveal the breakup mechanism of three-dimensional power-law cylindrical jets with different mode disturbances. It is observed experimentally that the asymmetric mode disturbances could prevail over the counterpart of symmetric mode under special conditions. The dispersion equation characterizing the instability of three-dimensional cylindrical jets of power-law fluids is deduced. The effects of the Weber number, generalized Reynolds number, power-law exponent, and gas–liquid density ratio on the jet instability are studied in detail. It is found that the maximum growth rates of asymmetric mode disturbances are usually larger than those of symmetric mode disturbances under high Weber numbers and low generalized Reynolds numbers, which implies that the former are more likely to be responsible for the breakup of power-law fluids. Meanwhile, the large gas–liquid interaction could trigger more short, unstable waves. Interestingly, with the increase of jet velocity, the interaction between liquid and gas phases plays an increasingly leading role on the breakup of power-law cylindrical jets, whereas the viscous force and the power-law exponent have less significant impacts. Theoretical analysis results give a better comprehensive understanding for the power-law jets.