Stabilization of a cylindrical capillary bridge far beyond the Rayleigh–Plateau limit using acoustic radiation pressure and active feedback

A novel method of suppressing the Rayleigh–Plateau capillary instability of a cylindrical liquid bridge is demonstrated which uses the radiation pressure of an ultrasonic wave to control the shape of the bridge. The shape of the bridge is optically sensed and the information used to control the spatial distribution of the radiation stress on the surface of the bridge. The feedback is phased so as to suppress the growth of the axisymmetric mode which normally becomes unstable when the slenderness, given by the length to diameter ratio, exceeds π. Stabilization is achieved out to a slenderness of 4.3 for a bridge density matched to the surrounding water bath in a Plateau tank. Breakup of such long bridges was found to produce a satellite drop from the receding thread of liquid. The active stabilization mechanism used may have application to other capillary systems.