Nonlinear oscillations of a drop moving at a constant velocity in an insulating medium subjected to an electrostatic field

Abstract

Nonlinear asymptotic calculations of the second order of smallness in the amplitude of the initial deformation of an ideally conducting liquid drop show that the laminar flow of an ideal conducting incompressible dielectric liquid flowing about the drop in an external electrostatic field parallel to the flow causes oscillation mode’s interaction in the first and second orders of smallness. Both linear and nonlinear interactions between the oscillation modes of the drop excite modes that are absent in the spectrum of modes governing the initial deformation of the drop’s equilibrium shape. In the second order of smallness, the mode interaction decreases the electrostatic field strength, as well as the velocity and density of the environment, that are critical for development of instability of the drop against the polarization charge.