Numerical simulation of the dynamics of a liquid conducting surface in a strong electric field

Two-dimensional numerical simulation is performed on the instability of a l iquid conducting surface with axial symmetry in a strong electric field. Th e method of splitting with respect to physical factors with transformation of the calculation region to the canonical form [1] is used to investigate the flow of liquid with a free surface. This approach enables one to study the time dependence of the basic physical quantities in the nonlinear mode when the emitting point is formed. It is demonstrated that this dependence exhibits a collapse behavior: a critical time t(c) exists, in the vicinity of which a physical quantity either diverges or goes to zero as similar to( t(c) - t)(gamma). The values of the critical exponent gamma are found for t he electric field, curvature radius, and the axial velocity at the point ti p, and the correlation between them demonstrated. (C) 2000 MAIK "Nauka/Inte rperiodica".