Linear analysis and energy budget of viscous liquid jets in both axial and radial electric fields

In their countless industrial applications, axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric instabilities are respectively responsible for electrospraying and electrospinning. A linear method and energy budget have been applied in this study to investigate the instability of viscous jets under both the axial and radial electric fields; the liquid was taken to be a leaky dielectric and the gas a perfect dielectric; the effect of a parabolic velocity profile was considered and compared to that of a uniform velocity, and the energy analysis explained the physical mechanisms to an extent. The liquid viscosity and parabolic velocity profile had a combined effect on jet instability. Work induced by the parabolic velocity profile consisted of two parts: the energy transferred from the basic flow to the disturbances, and the influence of the corresponding shear stresses. At low viscosities, these influences were positive enough to prevail over the viscous dissipation, enhancing axisymmetric instability. However, the parabolic velocity profile functioned differently in small and large wavenumber regions, and the response to the axial electric fields varied in different regions, accounting for the dual effects of axial electric fields on axisymmetric instability. Also, under the interplay between the strong axial electric fields and the parabolic velocity profile, two distinct unstable regions emerged for the non-axisymmetric mode. The effects of the radial electric fields were less sensitive, whether or not the parabolic velocity profile was considered. In summary, the parabolic velocity profile was significant–especially for charged jets with weak viscosity and strong axial electric intensity. The effects of axial electric fields in the atomization zone, and the effects of fluid permittivity coupled with the axial electric fields, were also investigated here.