Natural oscillations of a sessile drop: Inviscid theory

TL;DR

This paper provides an analytical solution for the natural oscillations of inviscid sessile drops with arbitrary contact angles, focusing on low Bond number conditions where surface tension dominates gravity.

Contribution

It introduces a fully analytical model using hypergeometric functions to predict oscillation frequencies of sessile drops, improving upon previous models especially for flatter drops.

Findings

Predicted frequencies align well with experimental data.

Model outperforms previous models for lower contact angles.

Discusses the role of viscous dissipation briefly.

Abstract

We present a fully analytical solution for the natural oscillation of an inviscid sessile drop of arbitrary contact angle on a horizontal plate for the case for the case of low Bond number, when surface tension dominates gravity. The governing equations are expressed in terms of the toroidal coordinate system which yields solutions involving hypergeometric functions. Resonant frequencies are identified for zonal, sectoral and tesseral vibration modes. The predictions show good agreement with experimental data reported in the literature, with better agreement than the model of \citeauthor{bostwick} (\textit{J. Fluid Mech.}, vol. 760, 2014, 5-38), particularly for flatter drops (lower contact angle) and higher modes of vibration. The impact of viscous dissipation is discussed briefly.