The phenomenon of liquid bridge formation due to an applied electric field is investigated. A solution of a charged catenary is presented, which allows one to determine the static and dynamical stability conditions where charged liquid bridges are possible. The creeping height, the bridge radius and length, as well as the shape of the bridge are calculated showing an asymmetric profile, in agreement with observations. The flow profile is calculated from the Navier-Stokes equation leading to a mean velocity, which combines charge transport with neutral mass flow and which describes recent experiments on water bridges.

• Received 3 July 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.86.026302