Vibration of a Flattened Drop. III. Mechanism of Mode Transition

Abstract

The transition of the vibration mode of an evaporating drop of liquid nitrogen placed on a horizontal surface at room temperature is investigated by image analysis and model simulation. The vibration mode is indicated by the number of waves n appearing along the periphery. In this paper, images of the drop in 16 mm film made during the transition from the n=5 mode to the n=3 mode are processed. From the images of the instantaneous plane shapes, nonlinear interaction between several modes and random behavior are identified during the transition. A simple model analysis is created to simulate this transition process. Results of the model analysis agree with the observation, and suggest a dependence of the transition mechanism on the degree of thermal inequilibrium.