Dynamics of liquid filament breakup

The nonlinear growth of surface tension-driven disturbances leading to breakup of a liquid filament is studied, using a one-dimensional approximation of the filament dynamics. The results are consistent with linear stability analyses during the initial portion of the transient, and also enable calculations at long times approaching breakup. Nonlinearities associated with inertial stresses lead to the formation of satellite droplets for Newtonian jets. The retardation of disturbance growth and stabilization of viscoelastic jets at long times is shown to be a consequence of nonlinearities associated with the buildup of large extensional stresses.