The role of the electrical conductivity and viscosity on the motions inside Taylor cones

The role of the electrical conductivity and viscosity on the liquid motions inside Taylor cones has been investigated. The electrical conductivity plays an essential role since it determines the electric tangential stresses acting on the cone surface. Flow visualization shows that two different patterns of the liquid motion can be distinguished. One, for liquids with sufficiently high values of the electrical conductivity and viscosity which corresponds to small values of the Reynolds number and the other for less viscous and less conducting liquids for which the characteristic Reynolds number of the flow is larger than unity. Some theoretical models of the liquid motions are given and compared to the flow patterns observed in the laboratory.