Mesfin Tsige

Paramagnetic liquid bridge in a gravity-compensating magnetic field

Magnetic levitation was used to stabilize cylindrical columns of a paramagnetic liquid in air between two solid supports. The maximum achievable length to diameter ratio Rmax was ∼(3.10±0.07), very close to the Rayleigh–Plateau limit of π. For smaller R, the stability of the column was measured as a function of the Bond number, which could be continuously varied by adjusting the strength of the magnetic field.

Stability of liquid crystalline bridges

The stability of cylindrical bridges of the liquid crystal octylcyanobiphenyl in an immiscible liquid bath was investigated in the nematic and smectic A phases. In the nematic phase the bridge was found to destabilize at a length-to-diameter (slenderness) ratio R similar to that of ordinary Newtonian fluids. On the other hand, the Bingham behavior of the smectic A phase, i.e., an apparent yield stress, enabled the formation of stable columns with R well in excess of π.