fast-imaging-technique-to-study-drop-impact-dynamics-non-newtonian

Fast Imaging Technique to Study Drop Impact Dynamics of Non-Newtonian Fluids

In the field of fluid mechanics, many dynamical processes not only occur over a very short time interval but also require high spatial resolution for ...

The University of Chicago

Entrainment in wetting and dewetting flows often occurs through the formation of a corner with a very sharp tip. This corner singularity comes on top of the divergence of viscous stress near the contact line, which is only regularized at molecular scales. We investigate the fine structure of corners appearing at the rear of sliding drops. Experiments reveal a sudden decrease of tip radius, down to 20 microm, before entrainment occurs. We propose a lubrication model for this phenomenon, which compares well to experiments. Despite the disparity of length scales, it turns out that the tip size is set by the classical viscous singularity, for which we deduce a nanometric length from our macroscopic measurements.

Coexistence of two singularities in dewetting flows: regularizing the corner tip.

A solid object impacting on liquid creates a liquid jet due to the collapse of the impact cavity. Using visualization experiments with smoke particles and multiscale simulations, we show that in addition, a high-speed air jet is pushed out of the cavity. Despite an impact velocity of only 1 m/s, this air jet attains supersonic speeds already when the cavity is slightly larger than 1 mm in diameter. The structure of the air flow closely resembles that of compressible flow through a nozzle-with the key difference that here the "nozzle" is a liquid cavity shrinking rapidly in time.

Supersonic air flow due to solid-liquid impact.

At impact of a liquid drop on a solid surface, an air bubble can be entrapped. Here, we show that two competing effects minimize the (relative) size of this entrained air bubble: for large drop impact velocity and large droplets, the inertia of the liquid flattens the entrained bubble, whereas for small impact velocity and small droplets, capillary forces minimize the entrained bubble. However, we demonstrate experimentally, theoretically, and numerically that in between there is an optimum, leading to maximal air bubble entrapment. For a 1.8 mm diameter ethanol droplet, this optimum is achieved at an impact velocity of 0.25  m/s. Our results have a strong bearing on various applications in printing technology, microelectronics, immersion lithography, diagnostics, or agriculture.

Maximal air bubble entrainment at liquid-drop impact.

We investigate the impact of droplets of dense suspensions onto a solid substrate. We show that a global hydrodynamic balance is unable to predict the splash onset and propose to replace it by an energy balance at the level of the particles in the suspension. We experimentally verify that the resulting, particle-based Weber number gives a reliable, particle size and density dependent splash onset criterion. We further show that the same argument also explains why, in bimodal systems, smaller particles are more likely to escape than larger ones.

Splashing onset in dense suspension droplets.

We investigate the spontaneous oscillations of drops levitated above an air cushion, eventually inducing a breaking of axisymmetry and the appearance of "star drops". This is strongly reminiscent of the Leidenfrost stars that are observed for drops floating above a hot substrate. The key advantage of this work is that we inject the airflow at a constant rate below the drop, thus eliminating thermal effects and allowing for a better control of the flow rate. We perform experiments with drops of different viscosities and observe stable states, oscillations, and chimney instabilities. We find that for a given drop size the instability appears above a critical flow rate, where the latter is largest for small drops. All these observations are reproduced by numerical simulations, where we treat the drop using potential flow and the gas as a viscous lubrication layer. Qualitatively, the onset of instability agrees with the experimental results, although the typical flow rates are too large by a factor 10. Our results demonstrate that thermal effects are not important for the formation of star drops and strongly suggest a purely hydrodynamic mechanism for the formation of Leidenfrost stars.

Article	Year
Coexistence of two singularities in dewetting flows: regularizing the corner tip. Physical review letters\| PubMed ID: 19792376	2009
Supersonic air flow due to solid-liquid impact. Physical review letters\| PubMed ID: 20366598	2010
Maximal air bubble entrainment at liquid-drop impact. Physical review letters\| PubMed ID: 23368566	2012
Splashing onset in dense suspension droplets. Physical review letters\| PubMed ID: 23889449	2013
Oscillating and star-shaped drops levitated by an airflow. Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics\| PubMed ID: 24032934	2013

Ivo Peters

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