Electrohydrodynamic instability of a charged liquid jet in the presence of an axial magnetic field

Abstract

Electrified liquid jets subjected to electrical destabilizing mechanisms often deform asymmetrically, creating an uncontrollable random motion that prevents the formation of uniform drops or organized microstructures. Employing a magnetic field is a potentially effective method of inhibiting the onset of unstable motion. This paper develops a theoretical model to investigate the effect of an axial magnetic field on the instability of a charged liquid jet. To demonstrate the stabilizing ability of this approach, this study uses temporal linear stability analysis to manifest the magnetic effect in various parameter domains including the Rayleigh regime, the atomization zone, and the bending instability for a viscous jet. Results show that the magnetic force induced by the motion of charged surface is insignificant in comparison with the electric force and does not have effect on the instability of a dielectric liquid jet. However, for a liquid with high electrical conductivity, the Lorentz force induced by a conducting current becomes significant, suppressing destabilizing mechanisms and substantially improving jet stability. In the atomization zone, the effect of magnetic inhibition is relatively limited because the imposed axial magnetic field does not affect long-wave nonaxisymmetric disturbances.