STRETCHING BEHAVIOR OF LARGE POLYMERIC AND NEWTONIAN LIQUID BRIDGES IN PLATEAU SIMULATION

Large liquid bridges of constant volume (initial length L0 = 50 mm and radius R0 = 25 mm) placed between two equal plane circular disks have been stretched in Plateau simulations (neutral buoyancy tank) by moving one disk with a constant velocity. While interfacial tension forces minimize the surface area, leading to contraction and break-up of the liquid bridge, inertia and friction forces act against it. Increasing inertia, friction and flow resistance, due to elongational viscosity, tend to stabilize the liquid bridge and thus form more cylindrical bridges. It has been found that none of the forces, especially inertia and interfacial tension forces, can be neglected even at elongation rates as low as 0.1 s-1.