Analysis of decay of droplets with electric charges in an aerosol cloud under the influence of an electrostatic field

When creating areas of liquid-droplet aerosol with stable boundaries, it is necessary to establish the patterns of decay of droplets that make up its basis, under the mutual influence of electrostatic fields. Stability indicators and trends in the density and boundaries of aerosol formations are determined by the properties of capillary electro-hydro-dynamic instability, which appear in the form of droplet decay at intrinsic or polarization charges exceeding critical values. The critical condition for the stability of the sphere surface of the drop is when the natural frequencies of capillary oscillations are turned to zero and is determined by the total density of the inherent charge distributed on it and the charge induced by the external field. To analyze the possibilities of decomposition of a charged drop, it is necessary to estimate the critical value of the field parameter, depending on the absolute value of the external electrostatic field strength. Goal – analysis of transformation patterns and determination of stability conditions for nearby aerosol cloud droplets in an external field. Using the asymptotic method of finding wave perturbation, an expression was for the equilibrium shape of the droplet surface in the point charge field in the form of a sequence whose basis functions are Legendre polynomials obtained. Relationships are of field and charge parameters of drop in electrostatic field investigated, critical values of field parameter are at various levels of density of its own surface charge established. Relationships were between the location of the maximum charge density of the droplet and the spatial parameter characterizing the range to the source of the external electrostatic field in the aerosol formation found. The stability of the droplet surface is by the value of the density of the series, which is the sum of the densities of the droplet's own charge and the charge induced by the external field determined. In an inhomogeneous electric field, when the own charge or the direction of the field changes, the point of the droplet surface will change, at which the maximum surface charge density is achieved. In a non-uniform electric field, the value of the surface density of the field-induced charge at the end of the drop facing the second drop will be higher than at the opposite end. Therefore, the value of the maximum charge density are will depend on the location of the position where the same sign surface densities of the intrinsic and induced charges of the drop summed up. The identified patterns and conditions of droplet decay in an external electrostatic field make it possible to predict the stability of artificial aerosol formations and substantiate the rational parameters of ion-cluster-droplet beams when spraying liquid-droplet aerosol. The obtained results form a methodological basis for improving basic technologies for forming aerosol curtains for protecting objects from optoelectronic monitoring means and constructing spectrometry devices for thermally unstable liquids, liquid metal dusting and lithography.