Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T11:12:24.303Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A general analysis for the electrohydrodynamic instability of stratified immiscible fluids

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2011

J. ZHANG
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
J. D. ZAHN
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
H. LIN*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
*
Email address for correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract

A general solution approach for the electrohydrodynamic instability of stratified immiscible fluids is presented. The problems of two and three fluid layers subject to normal electric fields are analysed. Analytical solutions are obtained by employing the transfer relations (Melcher 1981 Continuum Electromechanics. MIT Press) relating the disturbance stresses to the flow variables at the interface(s). This approach provides a convenient alternative to the direct solution of the linearized problem. The results assume a general format. Both new dispersion relations and those from various previous works are shown to be special cases when proper simplifications are considered. As a specific example, the instability behaviour of a three-layer channel flow is investigated in detail using this framework. This work provides a unifying method to treat a generic class of instability problems.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Baygents, J. C. & Baldessari, F. 1998 Electrohydrodynamic instability in a thin fluid layer with an electrical conductivity gradient. Phys. Fluids 10 (1), 301311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chang, C.-C. & Yang, R.-J. 2007 Electrokinetic mixing in microfluidic systems. Microfluid Nanofluid 3, 501525.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, C.-H., Lin, H., Lele, S. K. & Santiago, J. G. 2005 Convective and absolute electrokinetic instability with conductivity gradients. J. Fluid Mech. 524, 263303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craster, R. V. & Matar, O. K. 2005 Electrically induced pattern formation in thin leaky dielectric films. Phys. Fluids 17, 032104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoburg, J. F. & Melcher, J. R. 1976 Internal electrohydrodynamic instability and mixing of fluids with orthogonal field and conductivity gradients. J. Fluid Mech. 73, 333351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoburg, J. F. & Melcher, J. R. 1977 Electrohydrodynamic mixing and instability induced by colinear fields and conductivity gradients. Phys. Fluids 20 (6), 903911.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, F., Ozen, O., Aubry, N., Papageorgiou, D. T. & Petropoulos, P. G. 2007 Linear stability of a two-fluid interface for electrohydrodynamic mixing in a channel. J. Fluid Mech. 583, 347377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, H. 2009 Electrokinetic instability in microchannel flows: A review. Mech. Res. Commun. 36, 3338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, H., Storey, B. D., Oddy, M. H., Chen, C.-H. & Santiago, J. G. 2004 Instability of electrokinetic microchannel flows with conductivity gradients. Phys. Fluids 16 (6), 19221935.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, H., Storey, B. D. & Santiago, J. G. 2008 A depth-averaged electrokinetic flow model for shallow microchannels. J. Fluid Mech. 608, 4370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melcher, J. R. 1981 Continuum Electromechanics. MIT Press.Google Scholar
Melcher, J. R. & Schwarz, W. J. 1968 Interfacial relaxation overstability in a tangential electric field. Phys. Fluids 11 (12), 26042616.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melcher, J. R. & Smith, C. V. 1969 Electrohydrodynamic charge relaxation and interfacial perpendicular-field instability. Phys. Fluids 12 (4), 778790.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michael, D. H. & O'Neill, M. E. 1970 Electrohydrodynamic instability in plane layers of fluid. J. Fluid Mech. 41, 571580.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oddy, M. H., Santiago, J. G. & Mikkelsen, J. C. 2001 Electrokinetic instability micromixing. Anal. Chem. 73, 58225832.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ozen, O., Aubry, N., Papageorgiou, D. T. & Petropoulos, P. G. 2006 a Electrohydrodynamic linear stability of two immiscible fluids in channel flow. Electrochim. Acta 51, 53165323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ozen, O., Aubry, N., Papageorgiou, D. T. & Petropoulos, P. G. 2006 b Monodisperse drop formation in square microchannels. Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 144501.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Papageorgiou, D. T. & Petropoulos, P. G. 2004 Generation of interfacial instabilities in charged electrified viscous liquid films. J. Engng Maths 50, 223240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Posner, J. D. & Santiago, J. G. 2006 Convective instability of electrokinetic flows in a cross-shaped microchannel. J. Fluid Mech. 555, 142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saville, D. A. 1997 Electrohydrodynamics: the Taylor–Melcher leaky dielectric model. Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 29, 2764.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Storey, B. D., Tilley, B. S., Lin, H. & Santiago, J. G. 2005 Electrokinetic instabilities in thin microchannels. Phys. Fluids 17, 018103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thaokar, R. M. & Kumaran, V. 2005 Electrohydrodynamic instability of the interface between two fluids confined in a channel. Phys. Fluids 17, 084104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uguz, A. K. & Aubry, N. 2008 Quantifying the linear stability of a flowing electrified two-fluid layer in a channel for fast electric times for normal and parallel electric fields. Phys. Fluids 20, 092103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uguz, A. K., Ozen, O. & Aubry, N. 2008 Electric field effect on a two-fluid interface instability in channel flow for fast electric times. Phys. Fluids 20, 031702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zahn, J. D. & Reddy, V. 2006 Two phase micromixing and analysis using electrohydrodynamic instabilities. Microfluid Nanofluid 2, 399415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zelazo, R. E. & Melcher, J. R. 1974 Dynamic interactions of monomolecular films with imposed electric fields. Phys. Fluids 17 (1), 6172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar