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American Institute of Physics, Physics of Fluids, 2(24), p. 022101

DOI: 10.1063/1.3679165

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Bouncing, coalescence, and separation in head-on collision of unequal-size droplets

Journal article published in 2012 by Chenglong Tang, Peng Zhang ORCID, Chung K. Law
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

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Abstract

The dynamics of head-on collision of unequal-size droplets were experimentally and theoretically investigated, with emphasis on identifying distinct collision outcomes and interpreting the size-ratio dependence. A unified regime diagram in terms of bouncing, permanent coalescence, and separation after coalescence was identified for hydrocarbon and water droplets in the parameter space of the size ratio and a collision Weber number. Experimental results show that the transition Weber number, Web-c, that separates the bouncing and permanent coalescence regimes, weakly depends on the size ratio, while the transition Weber number, Wec-s, that separates permanent coalescence and separation regimes, significantly increases with the size ratio. A theoretical model based on energy balance and scaling analysis was developed to explain the size-ratio dependence of Wec-s. The theoretical results show good agreement with the experimental data for tetradecane and decane droplets, with a moderate discrepancy for water droplets.