Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T14:18:56.186Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Oscillations of magnetically levitated aspherical droplets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2006

D. L. Cummings
Affiliation:
The Open University, Oxford Research Unit, Berkeley Road, Boars Hill, Oxford, OX1 5HR, UK
D. A. Blackburn
Affiliation:
The Open University, Oxford Research Unit, Berkeley Road, Boars Hill, Oxford, OX1 5HR, UK

Abstract

In experiments to measure the surface energy of a magnetically levitated molten metal droplet by observation of its oscillation frequencies, Rayleigh's equation is usually used. This assumes that the equilibrium shape is a sphere, and the surface restoring force is due only to surface tension. This work investigates how the vibrations of a non-rotating liquid droplet are affected by the asphericity and additional restoring forces that the levitating field introduces. The calculations show that the expected single frequency of the fundamental mode is split into either three, when there is an axis of rotational symmetry, or five unequally spaced bands. Frequencies, on average, are higher than those of an unconstrained droplet; the surface tension appears to be increased over its normal value. This requires a small correction to be made in all analyses of surface energy. A frequency sum rule is derived from a simplified model of the magnetic field which allows the corresponding Rayleigh frequency to be evaluated from the observed frequencies of the fundamental and translational modes. A more detailed analysis shows a similar correction but one that is also sensitive to the position of the droplet in the field.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1991 Cambridge University Press

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

Albasiny, E. L., Bell, R. J. & Cooper, J. R. A. 1963 A table for the evaluation of Slater coefficients and integrals of triple products of spherical harmonics. NPL Rep. Ma 49. National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, UK.
Bussb, F. H.: 1984 J. Fluid Mech. 142, 1.
Cheng, K. J.: 1985 Phys. Lett. 112A 392.
Colgate, S. A., Furth, H. P. & Halliday, F. O., 1960 Rev. Mod. Phys. 32, 744.
Cotton, F. A.: 1963 Chemical Applications of Group Theory. John Wiley & Sons.
El-Kaddah, N. & Szekely, J. 1983 Metall. Trans. 14B, 401.
Keene, B. J., Mills, K. C. & Brooks, R. F., 1985 Mater. Sci. Sci. Techn. 1, 568.
Okress, E. C., Wroughton, D. M., Comenetz, G., Bruce, P. H. & Kelly, J. C. R., (1952). J. Appl. Phys. 23, 545.CrossRef
Rayleigh, Lord: 1879 Proc. R. Soc. Land. 29, 71.
Rony, P. R.: 1964 Trans. Vacuum Metall. Conf. (ed. M. Cocca), p. 55. Vacuum Metallurgy Division of American Vacuum Society, Boston, MA.
Trinh, E. & Wang, T. G., 1982 J. Fluid Mech. 122n, 315.
Tsamopoulos, J. A. & Brown, R. A., 1983 J. Fluid Mech. 127, 519.
Warham, A. G. P.: 1988 Vibration of a levitated drop. NPL Rep. DITC 110/88. National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, UK.