INFLUENCE OF DISJOINT PRESSURE UPON STABILITY IN THE ELECTRIC-FIELD OF A CHARGED LIQUID-FILM ON THE SURFACE OF A HARD-CORE

This work deals with finding the critical condition of capillary wave instability development in a thin charged liquid film on the surface o f a hard core in an external electric field, taking into account the d isjoining pressure. It is shown that the critical values of the Raylei gh and Taylor parameters for instability development increase sharply with decreasing thickness of a liquid film. This testifies to the stab ilizing influence of the disjoining pressure. The influence of viscous dissipation of capillary wave energy on the critical condition for th eir instability development is evaluated. The analytical expression is obtained which connects the critical values of the system charge and of the external electric field intensity for instability development w ith those of the thickness of a liquid film and dimensions of a hard c ore, as well as with those of the coefficients of surface tension and the kinematic viscosity of liquid. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.