Water spring: a model for bouncing drops

TL;DR

This paper introduces a scaling model to predict the deformation and contact time of bouncing water drops on super-hydrophobic surfaces, supported by flow modeling and experimental validation.

Contribution

It provides a new predictive model combining scaling arguments, internal flow analysis, and experimental data for bouncing water drops.

Findings

Predicted maximal deformation of bouncing drops

Estimated contact time during bounce

Validated model with experimental results

Abstract

It has been shown that a water drop can bounce persistently, when thrown on a super-hydrophobic substrate. We present here scaling arguments which allow us to predict the maximal deformation and the contact time of the drop. This approach is completed by a model describing the flow inside the drop, and by original experimental data.