The Instability of Shear Thinning and Shear Thickening Spiralling Liquid Jets: Linear Theory

The linear instability of a power law liquid emerging as a jet from an orifice on the surface of a rotating container is investigated, with applications to industrial prilling. Asymptotic methods are used to examine the growth rate and wavenumber of the most unstable traveling wave mode for different flow index numbers. Comparison with Newtonian liquids show that for small rotation rates shear thinning liquids are most stable to disturbances. In contrast for higher rotation rates we find shear thickening liquids are more stable than shear thinning liquids. The influence of viscosity, surface tension, and rotation rate on the growth rates and most unstable wavenumbers associated with both types of liquids are also examined.