An investigation on the impact of two vertically aligned drops on a liquid surface

TL;DR

This study uses advanced numerical simulations to analyze how two vertically aligned drops interact with a liquid pool, revealing complex coalescence behaviors influenced by drop size ratios and capillary wave dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed investigation of conglomerate-pool coalescence using CLSVOF, highlighting the effects of drop size ratios and capillary waves on coalescence outcomes.

Findings

Partial coalescence occurs during conglomerate-pool interaction.

Pool presence influences coalescence characteristics.

Capillary waves govern coalescence dynamics and satellite pinch-off.

Abstract

The dynamics of two vertically coalescing drops and a pool of the same liquid have been investigated using a Coupled Level Set and Volume of Fluid (CLSVOF) method. Such a configuration enables us to study the dynamic interaction of an arbitrary-shaped liquid conglomerate, formed owing to drop-drop coalescence, with a pool. Similar to drop-pool and drop-drop interactions, partial coalescence is observed when a conglomerate interacts with a pool. The presence of the pool below the father drop is found to influence the coalescence characteristic of the two drops. At the same time, the movement of the capillary waves resulting from the interaction of two drops governs the coalescence dynamics of the conglomerate with the pool. As liquid interfaces interact and generate capillary waves at multiple locations, complex trajectories of capillary waves are observed, which play a crucial role in determining the pinch-off characteristics of the satellite during conglomerate-pool interaction. We examine the effect of the ratio of the diameters of the lower/father drop to the upper/mother drop (D_r) on the coalescence dynamics while maintaining the size of the mother drop constant. The variation in the coalescence dynamics due to change in $D_r$ is quantified in terms of the residence time (tau_r), pinch-off time (tau_p) and the satellite diameter to conglomerate diameter ratio (Ds/Dc). The coalescence dynamics of the conglomerate is then compared with that of an equivalent spherical drop of the same volume and also with that of a drop initialized with the same shape as that of the conglomerate. Finally, the regions of complete and partial coalescence for the conglomerate-pool interactions are demarcated on the Weber number - diameter ratio (We-Dr) space.