The shape of low-speed capillary jets of Newtonian liquids

Abstract

The shape of a jet of Newtonian liquid issuing from a capillary needle into air is considered. The results of two theoretical approaches are presented. One approach is a perturbation analysis about the final state of the jet and the other is a boundary-layer analysis near the point of jet formation. Comparison of the predictions with experimental jet shapes shows them to be in semi-quantitative agreement. Especially interesting is the presence of a ‘discontinuity’ in the empirical exponential decay rate of the jet radius occurring at a Reynolds number somewhere between 14 and 20 and the correspondence of this discontinuity with the peculiar behaviour in this range of the Reynolds number of the theoretical eigenvalue.