Experimental analysis of electrohydrodynamic chaotic regimes in low conducting liquids subjected to corona discharge

This paper studies experimentally the time-depending behavior of electrohydrodynamic flow in a low conducting liquid subjected to corona discharge. The liquid is disposed on a transparent electrode and a laser beam is focussed on the surface of the liquid. A commercial CD pick-up, spared from a discarded computer, is placed below the electrode and the signal from the photodiodes in the head is recorded. This signal is further processed and analyzed. The signal shows a typical frequency, related to the liquid motion, and a broad band spectrum that exhibits a potential decay.