SELF-SIMILAR CAPILLARY PINCHOFF OF AN INVISCID FLUID

We study how an axisymmetric drop of inviscid fluid breaks under the a ction of surface tension. The evolution of various initial shapes is c alculated numerically using a boundary-clement method, and finite-time breakage is observed in detail. The pinchoff region is shown to have lengths scaling as tau(2/3), where tau is the time remaining until pin choff, and is found to adopt a unique shape with two cones of angles 1 8.1 degrees and 112.8 degrees, independent of the initial conditions. The velocity potential in the intermediate region between the small pi nchoff region and the large bulk of the drops is shown to take the for m (ArP1/2)-P-1/2(cos theta) + B tau/r + ... [S0031-9007(97)05092-8].