Experimental study on the breakup of charged liquid droplets

Charged droplets of water were formed at the tip of a capillary tube raised to high potential and subjected to external electric fields. The nozzle characteristics were tested to identify the different ejection modes. Under some conditions of electric field at the nozzle tip, breakup of the ejected droplets resulted. These droplets were collected on water-sensitive paper and then examined to verify the validity of the analytical model previously introduced by the authors (1986-7). The results of these experiments showed good agreement with the model and support the validity of the concept of treelike secondary breakups introduced in the model. The experimental results also clarify the demarcation between the modes of single-sibling and multisibling breakup at the sibling mass ratio of 11.1%.<>