Stability of axisymmetric liquid bridges

A simple formulation and a compact set of graphic data are presented for the equilibrium shapes and stability limits of axisymmetric liquid bridges. The stability analysis is based on the bifurcation of static configurations and gives the minimum liquid volume a bridge can hold, and the breaking mode. The end supports considered are: equal disks, unequal disks, free edge plates and paraboloidal supports. Long zones loose their stability through an asymmetric mode and yield two distinct drops, whereas short zones tend to neck in a symmetric way and yield similar drops. Imperfections imposed on equal-disk bridges cause reduction of the stability limits, and bias in the otherwise symmetric structure. When the bridge borders are not anchored to sharp solid edges, the stability limits are reduced by half (in achievable slenderness, for instance).