Dense Suspension Splat: Monolayer Spreading and Hole Formation After Impact

TL;DR

This study investigates the rapid spreading and pattern formation of a dense suspension monolayer after impact, revealing inertia-driven dynamics that are insensitive to surface wetting and capillarity effects.

Contribution

It introduces experimental and minimal numerical models to analyze the impact-induced spreading and hole formation in dense suspension monolayers, highlighting inertia's dominant role.

Findings

Expansion creates lace-like particle patterns

Inertia dominates over wetting and capillarity effects

Pattern formation is robust across different conditions

Abstract

We use experiments and minimal numerical models to investigate the rapidly expanding monolayer formed by the impact of a dense suspension drop against a smooth solid surface. The expansion creates a lace-like pattern of particle clusters separated by particle-free regions. Both the expansion and the development of the spatial inhomogeneity are dominated by particle inertia, therefore robust and insensitive to details of the surface wetting, capillarity and viscous drag.