Breakup of an electrified jet in an AC field

We study the axisymmetric break-up and satellite formation of slender jets subjected to time-dependent electric fields. The jet is surrounded by a concentrically-placed cylindrical electrode with an oscillating voltage; the annular fluid is assumed to be hydrodynamically passive. We use the long-wave approximation to derive coupled evolution equations for the interface position and axial velocity component, which account for electrostatic forcing. Numerical solutions of these equations permit the study of the effect of various forms of the electrode potential time-dependence on the dynamics. Our results indicate that it may be possible to use the AC field to control the number of satellites accompanying breakup as well as their size.