Elongation and burst of axisymmetric viscoelastic droplets: a numerical study

Julien Beaucourt (1) , Thierry Biben (1) , Claude Verdier (1)

1 LSP - Laboratoire de Spectrométrie Physique

The dynamics of elongation and burst of an isolated viscoelastic drop are investigated numerically in the special case of a viscosity ratio lambda=1. We show that the burst threshold is not affected by viscoelasticity itself, whereas the stationary drop morphology does. A cusp at the tips of the drop can even be observed when elastic effects are large. The burst dynamics is very sensitive to the presence of viscoelasticity: at low elasticity burst is slowed down while for large elasticity levels it becomes even faster than the Newtonian situation.

Mots clés: drop; breakup; viscoelasticity; Oldroyd-B

Domaines: Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]

Julien Beaucourt, Thierry Biben, Claude Verdier. Elongation and burst of axisymmetric viscoelastic droplets: a numerical study. Physical Review E : Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, 2005, 71 (6), pp.066309. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevE.71.066309⟩. ⟨hal-00197582⟩