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The role of drop shape in impact and splash

Author

Listed:
  • Qingzhe Liu

    (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

  • Jack Hau Yung Lo

    (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

  • Ye Li

    (CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Yuan Liu

    (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

  • Jinyu Zhao

    (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

  • Lei Xu

    (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Abstract

The impact and splash of liquid drops on solid substrates are ubiquitous in many important fields. However, previous studies have mainly focused on spherical drops while the non-spherical situations, such as raindrops, charged drops, oscillating drops, and drops affected by electromagnetic field, remain largely unexplored. Using ferrofluid, we realize various drop shapes and illustrate the fundamental role of shape in impact and splash. Experiments show that different drop shapes produce large variations in spreading dynamics, splash onset, and splash amount. However, underlying all these variations we discover universal mechanisms across various drop shapes: the impact dynamics is governed by the superellipse model, the splash onset is triggered by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, and the amount of splash is determined by the energy dissipation before liquid taking off. Our study generalizes the drop impact research beyond the spherical geometry, and reveals the potential of using drop shape to control impact and splash.

Suggested Citation

  • Qingzhe Liu & Jack Hau Yung Lo & Ye Li & Yuan Liu & Jinyu Zhao & Lei Xu, 2021. "The role of drop shape in impact and splash," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-23138-4
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23138-4
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhipeng Zhao & Huizeng Li & An Li & Wei Fang & Zheren Cai & Mingzhu Li & Xiqiao Feng & Yanlin Song, 2021. "Breaking the symmetry to suppress the Plateau–Rayleigh instability and optimize hydropower utilization," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-7, December.

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