Abstract:

The dynamics of liquid drops in microgravity were observed in the Drop Physics Module flown aboard the second United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML-2) in 1995. Water drops with varying concentrations of the surfactants Triton-X 100 and Bovine Serum Albumin were suspended in air and deformed by an acoustic standing wave. When the deforming force was removed, the drops oscillated freely about a spherical equilibrium shape, as opposed to the oblate equilibrium shape of a drop levitated in 1-g. Drop diameters between 1 and 3 cm were observed. Frequencies and decays for the dynamics have been extracted from the data. Results are compared to theoretical models and experiments in 1-g. Results for frequency shifts due to large amplitude oscillations are also presented. [Work supported by NASA through JPL, contract 958722.]