THE ELECTROHYDRODYNAMICS OF A QUASI-CONICAL SESSILE MENISCUS DEVELOPING INTO THE TAYLOR CONE

A recently obtained electrohydrodynamical boundary condition is applied to a model of a field-influenced sessile meniscus, one which corresponds to what is experimentally observed by being an approximation to the theoretical ideal of the 'Taylor cone'. The fluid-mechanical problem is not amenable to any purely analytical approach, and a semi-qualitative one is adopted, one which leads to qualitative prediction which is in conformity with behaviour that Taylor himself observed and recorded. This is that, if the field is above a critical strength, the quasi-conical form will grow, gathering speed, until eventually rupture occurs at the top.