Breakup of a conducting drop in a uniform electric field

A conducting drop suspended in a viscous dielectric and subjected to a uniform DC electric field deforms to a steady-state shape when the electric stress and the viscous stress balance. Beyond a critical electric capillary number Ca, which is the ratio of the electric to the capillary stress, a drop undergoes breakup. Although the steady-state deformation is independent of the viscosity ratio lambda of the drop and the medium phase, the breakup itself is dependent upon lambda and Ca. We perform a detailed experimental and numerical analysis of the axisymmetric shape prior to breakup (ASPB), which explains that there are three different kinds of ASPB modes: the formation of lobes, pointed ends and non-pointed ends. The axisymmetric shapes undergo transformation into the non-axisymmetric shape at breakup (NASB)before disintegrating. It is found that the lobes, pointed ends and non-pointed ends observed in ASPB give way to NASB modes of charged lobes disintegration, regular jets (which can undergo a whipping instability) and open jets, respectively. A detailed experimental and numerical analysis of the ASPB modes is conducted that explains the origin of the experimentally observed NASB modes. Several interesting features are reported for each of the three axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric modes when a drop undergoes breakup.