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Electrohydrodynamic instabilities

A classic result due to G.I.Taylor is that a weakly conducting drop bearing zero net charge placed in a uniform electric field adopts a prolate or oblate spheroidal shape, the flow and shape being axisymmetrically aligned with the applied field. We have found some intriguing symmetry–breaking instabilities (Quincke rotation resulting in drop steady tilt or tumbling, and pattern formation on the surface of a particle-coated drop), and the streaming from the drop equator that creates visually striking “Saturn-rings” around the drop. 

See Videos and these videos from the Gallery of Fluid Motion 

The Saturn-ring instability of a drop in an electric field

Electrohydrodynamics of a particle-coated drop