Abstract
The atomization process of a circular $SF_{6}$ liquid jet issued into an otherwise quiescent, high-pressure $N_2$ gas was observed to explore the breakup mechanism of liquid ligaments involved in turbulent atomization. Both liquid and gas temperatures were fixed at a room temperature but the gas pressure was elevated to more than twice the critical pressure of $SF_{6}$. Therefore, the liquid surface was in a thermodynamic state close to a critical mixing condition with suppressed vaporization. Since the surface tension and the surface gas density approach zero and the surface liquid density, respectively, phenomena equivalent to those which would appear when a very high speed laminar flow of water were injected into the atmospheric-pressure air can be observed by issuing $SF_{6}$ liquid at low speeds in micro-gravity environment which avoid disturbances due to gravity forces. The instability ob near-critical mixing surface jet was quantitatively characterized using a newly developed device, which could issue a very small amount of $SF_{6}$ liquid at small constant velocity into a very high-pressure $N_2$ gas.