Waves on a Free Surface of Ferrofluid Layer, Laying on a Liquid Substrate

Abstract

Waves on the free surface of a magnetic fluid located on a liquid substrate were studied experimentally. The wave motion of the surface was induced by a homogeneous oscillating magnetic field orthogonal to the layer. In this case two types of waves can be formed on the surface of a magnetic fluid: a standing wave of the same frequency as the alternating magnetic field, and a standing wave, independent of the field frequency. The paper reviews the main theoretical and experimental studies of wave instability of such systems. The stability of a two-layered liquid system in an alternating vertical magnetic field is investigated. For efficient processing of the experimental results, the optical part of the experimental setup was modified. An algorithm has been developed for processing the profiles of the magnetic fluid surface obtained during the experiment, which helps to determine the length of the generated waves.