This book is devoted to interfaces between two fluids, that is, between a liquid and a gas (such as water and air) or between two liquids (such as water and oil). The main motivation for the book is twenty years of experimentation in the microgravity environment of space, and the associated theory. This unique environment has made possible numerous qualitative and quantitative observations of effects that are masked by gravity on earth. Large liquid surfaces have been created and their stability and dynamics have been studied. The experimental insights gained have, in turn, strongly stimulated further theoretical and mathematical investigations. Advancing and receding contact angles, wetting barriers, pinning of contact lines, oscillations of capillary surfaces and fluid sloshing are also discussed.

Klappentext

Featuring a foreword by the astronaut Ulf Merbold, this book is devoted to interfaces between two fluids, that is, between a liquid and a gas or between two liquids. It is the first review on the subject, providing an up-to-date overview.

Inhalt

Interface Tension and Contact Angle.- Capillary Shape and Stability.- Stability Criteria.- Axisymmetric Liquid Columns at Rest and Under Rotation.- Liquid Zones.- Canthotaxis/Wetting Barriers/Pinning Lines.- Cylindrical Containers.- Liquid Surfaces in Polyhedral Containers.- Playing with Stability.- Liquid Penetration into Tubes and Wedges.- Oscillations of Liquid Columns.- Microgravity Experiments in Sounding Rockets, Spacelab and EURECA.