Electrostatic instability of the lateral surface of a viscous liquid finite-conductivity jet in a collinear electrical field

The influence of the finiteness of the charge transfer rate on the electrostatic instability of the lateral surface of a viscous liquid jet is studied. The study is based on the analysis of a dispersion relation for flexural-deformation capillary waves on the surface of the jet with allowance for charge relaxation. The jet is subjected to a superposition of two electrostatic fields one of which is collinear with the jet’s axis and the other is directed radially to the former. It is found that the finiteness of the potential equalization rate influences jets of a poorly conducting liquid most strongly. The charge relaxation shows up in the appearance of both periodic and aperiodic “purely relaxation” flows. Relaxation flows give rise to electrostatic instability in low-permittivity liquids. When the conductivity of the liquid drops, the instability growth rate of relaxation waves grows and their spectrum expands toward shorter waves. An increase in the charge surface diffusion coefficient introduces destabilization into the relaxation flows of the liquid, which may eventually become unstable.