Interfacial deformation of liquid drops by electric fields at zero gravity

The dynamic behaviour of a viscous droplet under the influence of applied electric fields in zero gravity is investigated by solving the axisymmetric Navier-Stokes equations numerically using the NASA-VOF2D algorithm and Laplaceʹs equation for the electrostatic potential using a standard finite difference technique. The initial condition of the droplet profile was determined by solving the Young-Laplace equation. The model is successful in predicting the dynamic deformation process of the droplet including its breakup. Although the numerically observed breakups were too small to be detected experimentally, our computational results were supported by the charge loss measurements of the sessile droplet carried out during the experiment.