Filling the Gap on Droplet Dynamics

Date:

A droplet falling towards a liquid bath will only rebound in the presence of a persisting thin layer of air, which separates the two liquids from coalescing. Within this talk we will introduce a fully coupled dynamic model for the drop-air-bath system, through assuming quasi-potential flow int he deep liquid bath, and a lubrication approximation in the air layer. Trhough obtaining a thin film equation in the air layer, we deduce the pressure transfer between the drop and the free surface, and the bounds of the lubrication region where this pressure is felt. We demonstrate the axisymmetric impacts of solid and liquid spheres on deep liquid baths in both two and three dimensions, and demonstrate the potential for this lubrication-model to capture complex repeated bouncing behaviours through simulating Faraday pilot-wave dynamics, where drop-bath pairings are able to eneter stable periodic behaviour.