Asymptotic theory for a Leidenfrost drop on a liquid pool

TL;DR

This paper develops an asymptotic theory for Leidenfrost drops on liquid pools, revealing unique vapor layer behaviors and stability properties, with analytical and numerical validation, advancing understanding of droplet levitation over liquid surfaces.

Contribution

It introduces a novel asymptotic analysis for Leidenfrost drops on liquid pools, highlighting differences from classical cases and showing pool deformability suppresses instabilities.

Findings

Vapor layer thickness depends on temperature and material properties.

Deformability of the pool suppresses chimney instability.

Analytical expressions for vapor thickness are validated numerically.

Abstract

Droplets can be levitated by their own vapour when placed onto a superheated plate (the Leidenfrost effect). It is less known that the Leidenfrost effect can likewise be observed over a liquid pool (superheated with respect to the drop), which is the study case here. Emphasis is placed on an asymptotic analysis in the limit of small evaporation numbers, which proves to be a realistic one indeed for not so small drops. The global shapes are found to resemble "superhydrophobic drops" that follow from the equilibrium between capillarity and gravity. However, the morphology of the thin vapour layer between the drop and the pool is very different from that of classical Leidenfrost drops over a flat rigid substrate, and exhibits different scaling laws. We determine analytical expressions for the vapour thickness as a function of temperature and material properties, which are confirmed by numerical solutions. Surprisingly, we show that deformability of the pool suppresses the chimney instability of Leidenfrost drops.