Ja n 20 05 Propagating waves pattern in a falling liquid curtain

We have preformed experiments on a liquid curtain falling from a horizontal, wetted, tube and lateraly constrained by two vertical wires. The fluid motion nearly reduces to a free-fall, with a very low detachment velocity below the tube. Thus, the curtain contains a large subsonic area, i.e. a domain where the sinuous waves travel faster than the fluid. The upper boundary not being constrained in the transverse direction, we have observed the appearance of an up to now unreported instability when the flow rate is progressively reduced: the top of the curtain enters a pendulum-like motion, coupled to a propagative pattern of curtain undulations, structured as a chessboard. Measurements of the phase velocity and frequency of this pattern are reported. Data are in agreement with a simple dimensional argument suggesting that the wave velocity is proportional to the surface tension divided by the mass flux of liquid per unit length. This scaling is also that followed by the fluid velocity at the transonic point, i.e. the point where the fluid velocity equals that of sinuous waves. We finally discuss implications of these results on the global stability of falling curtains.