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Drop fragmentation on impact

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2011

E. VILLERMAUX*
Affiliation:
IRPHE, Aix-Marseille Université, 13384 Marseille CEDEX 13, France
B. BOSSA
Affiliation:
IRPHE, Aix-Marseille Université, 13384 Marseille CEDEX 13, France
*
†Also at Institut Universitaire de France, 75005 Paris, France. Email address for correspondence: villermaux@irphe.univ-mrs.fr
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Abstract

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We address the sequence of events accompanying the transition from an initially compact volume of liquid – a drop – into dispersed fragments when it impacts a solid surface. We describe the change of topology of the drop to a radially expanding sheet and discuss the reasons of its rim destabilization, responsible for the emergence of radial ligaments which ultimately fragment into smaller drops. The dynamics ruling the radius of the sheet, its stability and the resulting fragment drop size distribution are documented experimentally. The radius dynamics results from a simple balance between inertia of the initial drop and capillary restoring forces at the rim, with damping due to the continuous transfer of momentum from the sheet to the rim. The ligaments expelled from the rim originate from a Rayleigh–Taylor mechanism localized at the rim. The final drop size distribution in the spray is shown to be a linear superposition of gamma distributions characteristic of ligament breakup, leading generically to Bessel functions.

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Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011