Bubble Chandeliers

TL;DR

This study investigates how a thin air layer cushions low-velocity droplet impacts on a pool surface, revealing how its rupture influences micro-bubble formation, using ultra-high-speed imaging.

Contribution

It provides detailed visualization of air-layer rupture dynamics during droplet impact, linking rupture patterns to micro-bubble morphology.

Findings

Air-layer rupture locations affect bubble shapes.

Micro-bubbles are formed from the rupture of the air cushion.

High-speed imaging captures the rupture process in detail.

Abstract

When a drop impacts at very low velocity onto a pool surface it is cushioned by a thin layer of air, which can be stretched into a hemispheric shape. We use ultra-high-speed video imaging to show how this thin air-layer ruptures. The number and locations of these ruptures determines the morphology of the resulting myriad of micro-bubbles. This fluid dynamics video is submitted to the APS DFD Gallery of Fluid Motion 2012, part of the 65th Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics (18-20 November, San Diego, CA, USA).