Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-dnltx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T15:58:11.206Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Inviscid coalescence of drops

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2003

L. DUCHEMIN
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, 180 Queen's Gate, London, SW7 2BZ, UK
J. EGGERS
Affiliation:
Fachbereich Physik, Universität Gesamthochschule Essen, 45117 Essen, Germany
C. JOSSERAND
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Modélisation en Mécanique, 8, rue du Capitaine Scott, 75015 Paris, France

Abstract

We study the coalescence of two drops of an ideal fluid driven by surface tension. The velocity of approach is taken to be zero and the dynamical effect of the outer fluid (usually air) is neglected. Our approximation is expected to be valid on scales larger than $\ell_{\nu} = \rho\nu^2/\sigma$, which is 10 nm for water. Using a high-precision boundary integral method, we show that the walls of the thin retracting sheet of air between the drops reconnect in finite time to form a toroidal enclosure. After the initial reconnection, retraction starts again, leading to a rapid sequence of enclosures. Averaging over the discrete events, we find the minimum radius of the liquid bridge connecting the two drops to scale like $r_b \propto t^{1/2}$.

Type
Papers
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)