Ferro-hydrodynamics of droplet necking filaments

Abstract

We explore the necking, filament thinning, and pinchoff dynamics of ferrofluid droplets within a magnetic field, via a simple and low-cost experimental method. In our studies, both the Ohnesorge number Oh and the Deborah number De are O1, a typically inaccessible regime with conventional extensional rheometers. Under magnetic forcing, the nanoparticles assemble into field aligned, chainlike structures, that generate a tunable magnetoelastic response, and markedly alter the extensional flow. Although behaving as Newtonian liquids in the absence of a magnetic field, the field induces extensional thickening, and the emergence of beads on a string BOAS structures in the ferrofluid filaments, a non-Newtonian signature. By combining controlled elongation with high speed imaging, we directly quantify the magnetic field-dependent extensional viscosity and relaxation time. Our findings underscore how magnetically induced microstructures govern filament stability and extensional dynamics in ferrofluids.