Breaking and merging of liquid sheets and filaments

Abstract

The surface of a sheet of liquid which contracts due to surface tension, breaks, and then pulls apart into two pieces, is calculated. Before breaking, the flow is the self-similar one found by Keller, Milewski and Vanden-Broeck. After breaking, it is the self-similar flow found by Keller and Miksis. A general numerical scheme, which includes the previous ones, is presented and new numerical results are discussed. There is an analogous flow of an axially symmetric liquid filament, but it is not calculated.