Stability analysis of the tip streaming flow in a coflowing device
Phys. Rev. Fluids 11, 024001 – Published 2 February, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/pj9b-jngq
Abstract
We analyze the stability of the tip streaming coflow configuration, in which a conical liquid meniscus emits a thin liquid thread due to the viscous force exerted by an outer stream. The experiments and global stability analysis show that the emitted jet always destabilizes before the tapering conical meniscus becomes unstable. This implies that the parameter conditions at which polydisperse microdripping arises cannot be determined from the linear stability analysis of the steady jetting mode. Transient simulations show that the linear superposition of decaying eigenmodes triggered by an initial perturbation can lead to the jet breakup. The breakup process significantly depends on the initial perturbation. These results question the validity of the (asymptotic) linear stability analysis as applied to the coflowing and other similar configurations.
