When two liquid drops come into contact, they coalesce rapidly, owing to the large curvature and unbalanced surface-tension forces in the neck region. We use an ultra-high-speed video camera to study the coalescence of a pendent and a sessile drop, over a range of drop sizes and liquid viscosities. For low viscosity, the outward motion of the liquid contact region is successfully described by a dynamic capillary-inertial model based on the local vertical spacing between the two drop surfaces. This model applies even when the drops are of different sizes. Increasing viscosity slows down the coalescence when the Reynolds number $\hbox{\it Re}_v \,{=}\,\rho R_{\hbox{\scriptsize\it ave}}\sigma/\mu^2\,{<}\,5000$, where $R_{\hbox{\scriptsize\it ave}}$ is the average of the tip radii of the two similar size drops, $\rho$ is the liquid density, $\sigma$ is the surface tension and $\mu$ the dynamic viscosity. At $\hbox{\it Re}_v\,{\simeq}\,50$, the growth-rate of the neck radius has reduced by a half, which for water corresponds to a drop diameter of only 2\,$\umu$m. For the largest viscosities, the neck region initially grows in size at a constant velocity. The neck curvature also becomes progressively sharper with increasing viscosity. The results are compared to previously predicted power laws, finding slight, but significant deviations from the predicted exponents. These deviations are most probably caused by the finite initial contact radius.

This review presents recent technological advances in charge-coupled-device ultrahigh-speed video cameras and their applications in experimental fluid mechanics. Following a brief review of the various high-speed camera types, we point out the advantages of the new technology. Then we show examples of how these cameras are leading to new discoveries in the study of free-surface flows, emphasizing the dynamics of drops and bubbles. We specifically review work on the basic singularities occurring when liquid masses come into contact and coalesce, or break apart during the pinch-off of drops or bubbles from a vertical nozzle. We briefly discuss the imaging of cavitation bubbles and finish by outlining future prospects for these sensors.

A bubble is slowly grown from a vertical nozzle until it becomes unstable and pinches off. We use ultra-high-speed video imaging, at frame-rates up to 1millionfps, to study the dynamics and shape of the pinch-off neck region. For bubbles in water (Bo≃1.0) the radius of the neck reduces with a power law behavior R∼tα, over more than 2 decades, with an exponent in the range α=0.57±0.03, in good agreement with other available studies, but which is slightly larger than 1∕2 predicted by Rayleigh-Plesset theory. The vertical curvature in the neck increases more slowly than the azimuthal curvature, making the neck profiles more slender as pinch-off is approached. Self-similar shapes are recovered by normalizing the axial coordinate by a separate length scale which follows a different power law, Lz∼tγ, where γ=0.49±0.03. Results for air, He, and SF6 gas are identical, suggesting that the gas density plays a minimal role in the dynamics. The pinch-off in water leaves behind a tiny satellite bubble, around 5μm in diameter and the flow-field inside the liquid is shown to be consistent with simple sink flow. The effects of liquid viscosity on the pinch-off speed and neck shapes, are also characterized. The speed starts to slow down at a viscosity of about 10 times that of water, which corresponds to Reμ≃2000. This also changes the power law, increasing the exponent to α≃1 for viscosities above 70cP (Reμ≃40). For surrounding liquid of viscosity above 10cP, we observe just before pinch-off, that the neck is stretched into a thin filament of air, which then breaks into a stream of microbubbles. In some cases we observe a cascade of bubble sizes. While some of the details differ, our results are in overall agreement with those of Burton, Waldrep, and Taborek [Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 184502 (2005)], except we do not observe the rupture of the air cylinder as it reduces to 50μm size. For water we observe a continuous necking down to the pixel-resolution of our optical system, which at the largest frame-rates is ∼10μm.

When a drop impacts at low velocity onto a pool surface, a hemispheric air layer cushions and can delay direct contact. Herein we use ultra-high-speed video to study the rupture of this layer, to explain the resulting variety of observed distribution of bubbles. The size and distribution of micro-bubbles is determined by the number and location of the primary punctures. Isolated holes lead to the formation of bubble necklaces when the edges of two growing holes meet, whereas bubble nets are produced by regular shedding of micro-bubbles from a sawtooth edge instability. For the most viscous liquids the air film contracts more rapidly than the capillary–viscous velocity through repeated spontaneous ruptures of the edge. From the speed of hole opening and the total volume of micro-bubbles we conclude that the air sheet ruptures when its thickness approaches ${\ensuremath{\sim} }100~\mathrm{nm} $.

When a drop impacts onto a liquid pool, it ejects a thin horizontal sheet of liquid, which emerges from the neck region connecting the two liquid masses. The leading section of this ejecta bends down to meet the pool liquid. When the sheet touches the pool, at an ''elbow,'' it ruptures and sends off microdroplets by a slingshot mechanism, driven by surface tension. High-speed imaging of the splashing droplets suggests the liquid sheet is of submicron thickness, as thin as 300 nm. Experiments in partial vacuum show that air resistance plays the primary role in bending the sheet. We identify a parameter regime where this slingshot occurs and also present a simple model for the sheet evolution, capable of reproducing the overall shape.