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Droplet Splashing on Dry Surfaces
- Supervisor: dr. K.G. de Bruin, dr. Noushine Shahidzadeh, Prof. dr. Daniel Bonn
- Research Team: Thijs de Goede Msc.
- Goal: To understand the mechanics of splashing and its dependencies on the surrounding atmosphere
- Info: D.Bonn, T.C. de Goede
Although intensively studied over the past decades, splashing of droplets (i.e., ejection of smaller droplets from the main droplet during impact) is still incom- pletely understood due to the complicated dependencies on the fluid and surface properties and even the air viscosity. The prediction of the critical splashing velocity (velocity at which splashing occurs) is paramount to several practical applications. Although a splashing model incorporating the air viscosity has recently been formulated, its complexity makes the prediction of the critical splashing velocity rather cumbersome. In this study, we propose a simplification for the splashing model for low Ohnesorge number fluids. We measured the critical velocity for several ethanol-water mixtures impacting stainless steel and glass surfaces using high speed camera imaging. The measured critical velocities are compared with the critical velocities predictions of both the full splashing model and its simplification.