Liquid bridge stabilization: theory guides a codimension-two experiment

Subject only to surface tension, a cylindrical liquid bridge is unstable at lengths longer than its circumference, the Plateau-Rayleigh limit. Perturb ed by gravity and an axial flow, the liquid bridge becomes near-cylindrical with a modified stability. An unfolding captures the interactions between gravity and flow-induced pressure near the Plateau-Rayleigh limit. The stre ss balance of the free interface is solved using a lubrication-flow approxi mation and the Lyapunov-Schmidt method. Stabilization is predicted when the two perturbations counter-balance one another. Where accurate measurements are possible, experiment gives good comparison with predictions. The attem pt to use theory to guide experiment to the most delicate predictions is on ly partially successful, however. 'Why?' is addressed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Sc ience S.A. All rights reserved.