In the present work experimental, numerical, and theoretical investigations of a normal drop impact onto a liquid film of finite thickness are presented. The dynamics of drop impact on liquid surfaces, the shape of the cavity, the formation and propagation of a capillary wave in the crater, and the residual film thickness on the rigid wall are determined and analyzed. The shape of the crater within the film and the uprising liquid sheet formed upon the impact are observed using a high-speed video system. The effects of various influencing parameters such as drop impact velocity, liquid film thickness and physical properties of the liquids, including viscosity and surface tension, on the time evolution of the crater formation are investigated. Complementary to experiments the direct numerical simulations of the phenomena are performed using an advanced free-surface capturing model based on a two-fluid formulation of the classical volume-of-fluid (VOF) model in the framework of the finite volume numerical method. In this model an additional convective term is introduced into the transport equation for phase fraction, contributing decisively to a sharper interface resolution. Furthermore, an analytical model for the penetration depth of the crater is developed accounting for the liquid inertia, viscosity, gravity, and surface tension. The model agrees well with the experiments at the early times of penetration far from the wall if the impact velocity is high. Finally, a scaling analysis of the residual film thickness on the wall is conducted demonstrating a good agreement with the numerical predictions.

This study is devoted to the analysis of inertia dominated axisymmetric drop collisions with a dry substrate or with another liquid drop. All the previous theoretical and semiempirical models of drop collisions are based on the assumption that the flow in the lamella and its thickness are determined by the impact conditions, mainly by the Reynolds and Weber numbers. In this study the existing experimental data are compared to existing and new numerical simulations for the shape of the lamella generated at the early times of drop impact for various impact conditions. The results show that if the Reynolds and Weber numbers are high enough, the evolution of the lamella thickness almost does not depend on the viscosity and surface tension. Therefore these results completely change our understanding of the flow generated by drop collisions. Moreover, we demonstrate that the theoretical models based on the approximation of the shape of the deforming drop by a disk and the models based on the energy balance approach are not correct. Finally, universal dimensionless distributions for the lamella thickness, velocity, and pressure are obtained from the numerical simulations of drop impact onto a symmetry plane (associated with the binary drop collisions). These universal distributions are valid for high impact Weber and Reynolds numbers.

No abstract

No abstract