Whether colliding drops will merge with or bounce off each other is critical to numerous processes, and the physics involved is notoriously complex. In particular, experiments show that both sufficiently slow and fast head-on drop collisions lead to merging, but that there is often an intermediate regime in which bouncing is observed; these transitions in behaviour were recently discovered to be surprisingly sensitive to the radius of the drops and the ambient gas pressure. We show here that these transitions between bouncing and merging are governed by nanoscale phenomena; namely, gas-kinetic and disjoining pressure effects. To capture these crucial effects, a novel, open-source computational model is developed for the simulation of colliding drops. The model uses a hybrid approach, based on solving the Navier–Stokes equations in the drop with a lubrication approach for the unconventional physics of the gas film. Our simulations show remarkably good agreement with experiments of head-on collisions and also provide new experimentally verifiable predictions.

The Leidenfrost effect, where a drop levitates on a vapour film above a hot solid, is simulated using an efficient computational model that captures the internal flow within the droplet, models the vapour flow in a lubrication framework and is capable of resolving the dynamics of the process. The initial focus is on quasi-static droplets and the associated geometry of the vapour film formed beneath the drop, where we are able to compare with experimental analyses and assess the range of validity of the theoretical model developed in Sobac et al. (Phys. Rev. E, vol. 103, 2021, 039901). The computational model also allows us to explore parameter space, varying both the drop size and viscosity of the liquid, with computational results in excellent agreement with the theoretical model for high-viscosity liquids. Interestingly, for large water drops, discrepancies between the computational model and experiments occur, and possible reasons for this observation are provided. Our predictions reveal features including a regime with a dimpleless bottom surface of the drop and a minimum in the vapour layer thickness as a function of the drop size. Finally, the capability to simulate dynamics is revealed by computations that predict and track the vapour ‘chimney’ instability for large drops.

Determining physically admissible boundary conditions for higher moments in an extended continuum model is recognised as a major obstacle. Boundary conditions for the regularised 26-moment (R26) equations obtained using Maxwell's accommodation model do exist in the literature; however, we show in this article that these boundary conditions violate the second law of thermodynamics and the Onsager reciprocity relations for certain boundary value problems, and, hence, are not physically admissible. We further prove that the linearised R26 (LR26) equations possess a proper $H$-theorem (second-law inequality) by determining a quadratic form without cross-product terms for the entropy density. The establishment of the $H$-theorem for the LR26 equations in turn leads to a complete set of boundary conditions that are physically admissible for all processes and comply with the Onsager reciprocity relations. As an application, the problem of a slow rarefied gas flow past a spherical droplet with and without evaporation is considered and solved analytically. The results are compared with the numerical solution of the linearised Boltzmann equation, experimental results from the literature and/or other macroscopic theories to show that the LR26 theory with the physically admissible boundary conditions provides an excellent prediction up to Knudsen number $\lesssim 1$ and, consequently, provides transpicuous insights into intriguing effects, such as thermal polarisation. In particular, the analytic results for the drag force obtained in the present work are in an excellent agreement with experimental results even for very large values of the Knudsen number.

Classical continuum-based liquid–vapour phase-change models typically assume continuity of temperature at phase interfaces along with a relation which describes the rate of evaporation at the interface (Hertz–Knudsen–Schrage, for example). However, for phase-transition processes at small scales, such as the evaporation of nanodroplets, the assumption that the temperature is continuous across the liquid–vapour interface leads to significant inaccuracies (McGaughey et al., J. Appl. Phys., vol. 91, issue 10, pp. 6406–6415; Rana et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 123, 154501), as might the adoption of classical constitutive relations that lead to the Navier–Stokes–Fourier (NSF) equations. In this paper, to capture the notable effects of rarefaction at small scales, we adopt an extended continuum-based approach utilising the coupled constitutive relations (CCRs). In CCR theory, additional terms are invoked in the constitutive relations of the NSF equations originating from the arguments of irreversible thermodynamics as well as being consistent with the kinetic theory of gases. The modelling approach allows us to derive new fundamental solutions for the linearised CCR model, to develop a numerical framework based upon the method of fundamental solutions (MFS) and enables three-dimensional multiphase micro-flow simulations to be performed at remarkably low computational cost. The new framework is benchmarked against classical results and then explored as an efficient tool for solving three-dimensional phase-change events involving droplets.

Most of our understanding of moving contact lines relies on the limit of small capillary number ${Ca}$. This means the contact line speed is small compared to the capillary speed $\gamma /\eta$, where $\gamma$ is the surface tension and $\eta$ the viscosity, so that the interface is only weakly curved. The majority of recent analytical work has assumed in addition that the angle between the free surface and the substrate is also small, so that lubrication theory can be used. Here, we calculate the shape of the interface near a slip surface for arbitrary angles, and for two phases of arbitrary viscosities, thereby removing a key restriction in being able to apply small capillary number theory. Comparing with full numerical simulations of the viscous flow equation, we show that the resulting theory provides an accurate description up to $Ca \approx 0.1$ in the dip coating geometry, and a major improvement over theories proposed previously.

We consider the linearized form of the regularized 13-moment equations (R13) to model the slow, steady gas dynamics surrounding a rigid, heat-conducting sphere when a uniform temperature gradient is imposed far from the sphere and the gas is in a state of rarefaction. Under these conditions, the phenomenon of thermophoresis, characterized by forces on the solid surfaces, occurs. The R13 equations, derived from the Boltzmann equation using the moment method, provide closure to the mass, momentum and energy conservation laws in the form of constitutive, transport equations for the stress and heat flux that extend the Navier–Stokes–Fourier model to include non-equilibrium effects. We obtain analytical solutions for the field variables that characterize the gas dynamics and a closed-form expression for the thermophoretic force on the sphere. We also consider the slow, streaming flow of gas past a sphere using the same model resulting in a drag force on the body. The thermophoretic velocity of the sphere is then determined from the balance between thermophoretic force and drag. The thermophoretic force is compared with predictions from other theories, including Grad’s 13-moment equations (G13), variants of the Boltzmann equation commonly used in kinetic theory, and with recently published experimental data. The new results from R13 agree well with results from kinetic theory up to a Knudsen number (based on the sphere’s radius) of approximately 0.1 for the values of solid-to-gas heat conductivity ratios considered. However, in this range of Knudsen numbers, where for a very high thermal conductivity of the solid the experiments show reversed thermophoretic forces, the R13 solution, which does result in a reversal of the force, as well as the other theories predict significantly smaller forces than the experimental values. For Knudsen numbers between 0.1 and 1 approximately, the R13 model of thermophoretic force qualitatively shows the trend exhibited by the measurements and, among the various models considered, results in the least discrepancy.

The theoretical framework developed by Rayleigh and Plateau in the 19th century has been remarkably accurate in describing macroscale experiments of liquid cylinder instability. Here we re-evaluate and revise the Rayleigh–Plateau instability for the nanoscale, where molecular dynamics experiments demonstrate its inadequacy. A new framework based on the stochastic lubrication equation is developed that captures nanoscale flow features and highlights the critical role of thermal fluctuations at small scales. Remarkably, the model indicates that classically stable (i.e. ‘fat’) liquid cylinders can be broken at the nanoscale, and this is confirmed by molecular dynamics.

We study air entrainment by a solid plate plunging into a viscous liquid, theoretically and numerically. At dimensionless speeds $Ca=U\unicode[STIX]{x1D702}/\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FE}$ of order unity, a near-cusp forms due to the presence of a moving contact line. The radius of curvature of the cusp’s tip scales with the slip length multiplied by an exponential of $-Ca$. The pressure from the air flow drawn inside the cusp leads to a bifurcation, at which air is entrained, i.e. there is ‘wetting failure’. We develop an analytical theory of the threshold to air entrainment, which predicts the critical capillary number to depend logarithmically on the viscosity ratio, with corrections coming from the slip in the gas phase.

Macroscopic models based on moment equations are developed to describe the transport of mass and energy near the phase boundary between a liquid and its rarefied vapour due to evaporation and hence, in this study, condensation. For evaporation from a spherical droplet, analytic solutions are obtained to the linearised equations from the Navier–Stokes–Fourier, regularised 13-moment and regularised 26-moment frameworks. Results are shown to approach computational solutions to the Boltzmann equation as the number of moments are increased, with good agreement for Knudsen number ${\lesssim}1$, whilst providing clear insight into non-equilibrium phenomena occurring adjacent to the interface.

Fundamental solutions (Green’s functions) are derived for the regularised 13-moment system (R13) of rarefied gas dynamics, for small departures from equilibrium; these solutions show the presence of Knudsen layers, associated with exponential decay terms, that do not feature in the solution of lower-order systems (e.g. the Navier–Stokes–Fourier equations). Incorporation of these new fundamental solutions into a numerical framework based on the method of fundamental solutions (MFS) allows for efficient computation of three-dimensional gas microflows at remarkably low computational cost. The R13-MFS approach accurately recovers analytic solutions for low-speed flow around a stationary sphere and heat transfer from a hot sphere (for which a new analytic solution has been derived), capturing non-equilibrium flow phenomena missing from lower-order solutions. To demonstrate the potential of the new approach, the influence of kinetic effects on the hydrodynamic interaction between approaching solid microparticles is calculated. Finally, a programme of future work based on the initial steps taken in this article is outlined.

Computations of the breakup of a liquid bridge are used to establish the limits of applicability of similarity solutions derived for different breakup regimes. These regimes are based on particular viscous–inertial balances, that is, different limits of the Ohnesorge number $Oh$. To accurately establish the transitions between regimes, the minimum bridge radius is resolved through four orders of magnitude using a purpose-built multiscale finite element method. This allows us to construct a quantitative phase diagram for the breakup phenomenon which includes the appearance of a recently discovered low-$Oh$ viscous regime. The method used to quantify the accuracy of the similarity solutions allows us to identify a number of previously unobserved features of the breakup, most notably an oscillatory convergence towards the viscous–inertial similarity solution. Finally, we discuss how the new findings open up a number of challenges for both theoretical and experimental analysis.

Recent experiments on coating flows and liquid drop impact both demonstrate that wetting failures caused by air entrainment can be suppressed by reducing the ambient gas pressure. Here, it is shown that non-equilibrium effects in the gas can account for this behaviour, with ambient pressure reductions increasing the mean free path of the gas and hence the Knudsen number $\mathit{Kn}$. These effects first manifest themselves through Maxwell slip at the boundaries of the gas, so that for sufficiently small $\mathit{Kn}$ they can be incorporated into a continuum model for dynamic wetting flows. The resulting mathematical model contains flow structures on the nano-, micro- and millimetre scales and is implemented into a computational platform developed specifically for such multiscale phenomena. The coating flow geometry is used to show that for a fixed gas–liquid–solid system (a) the increased Maxwell slip at reduced pressures can substantially delay air entrainment, i.e. increase the ‘maximum speed of wetting’, (b) unbounded maximum speeds are obtained, as the pressure is reduced only when slip at the gas–liquid interface is allowed for, and (c) the observed behaviour can be rationalised by studying the dynamics of the gas film in front of the moving contact line. A direct comparison with experimental results obtained from a dip-coating process shows that the model recovers most trends but does not accurately predict some of the high viscosity data at reduced pressures. This discrepancy occurs because the gas flow enters the ‘transition regime’, so that more complex descriptions of its non-equilibrium nature are required. Finally, by collapsing onto a master curve experimental data obtained for drop impact in a reduced pressure gas, it is shown that the same physical mechanisms are also likely to govern splash suppression phenomena.

The coalescence of two liquid drops surrounded by a viscous gas is considered in the framework of the conventional model. The problem is solved numerically with particular attention paid to resolving the very initial stage of the process which only recently has become accessible both experimentally and computationally. A systematic study of the parameter space of practical interest allows the influence of the governing parameters in the system to be identified and the role of viscous gas to be determined. In particular, it is shown that the viscosity of the gas suppresses the formation of toroidal bubbles predicted in some cases by early computations where the gas’ dynamics was neglected. Focusing computations on the very initial stages of coalescence and considering the large parameter space allows us to examine the accuracy and limits of applicability of various ‘scaling laws’ proposed for different ‘regimes’ and, in doing so, reveal certain inconsistencies in recent works. A comparison with experimental data shows that the conventional model is able to reproduce many qualitative features of the initial stages of coalescence, such as a collapse of calculations onto a ‘master curve’ but, quantitatively, overpredicts the observed speed of coalescence and there are no free parameters to improve the fit. Finally, a phase diagram of parameter space, differing from previously published ones, is used to illustrate the key findings.

The interface formation model is applied to describe the initial stages of the coalescence of two liquid drops in the presence of a viscous ambient fluid whose dynamics is fully accounted for. Our focus is on understanding (a) how this model’s predictions differ from those of the conventionally used one, (b) what influence the ambient fluid has on the evolution of the shape of the coalescing drops and (c) the coupling of the intrinsic dynamics of coalescence and that of the ambient fluid. The key feature of the interface formation model in its application to the coalescence phenomenon is that it removes the singularity inherent in the conventional model at the onset of coalescence and describes the part of the free surface ‘trapped’ between the coalescing volumes as they are pressed against each other as a rapidly disappearing ‘internal interface’. Considering the simplest possible formulation of this model, we find experimentally verifiable differences with the predictions of the conventional model showing, in particular, the effect of drop size on the coalescence process. According to the new model, for small drops a non-monotonic time dependence of the bridge expansion speed is a feature that could be looked for in further experimental studies. Finally, the results of both models are compared to recently available experimental data on the evolution of the liquid bridge connecting coalescing drops, and the interface formation model is seen to give a better agreement with the data.

The spreading of an incompressible viscous liquid over an isotropic homogeneous unsaturated porous substrate is considered. It is shown that, unlike the dynamic wetting of an impermeable solid substrate, where the dynamic contact angle has to be specified as a boundary condition in terms of the wetting velocity and other flow characteristics, the ‘effective’ dynamic contact angle on an unsaturated porous substrate is completely determined by the requirement of existence of a solution, i.e. the absence of a non-integrable singularity in the spreading fluid’s pressure at the ‘effective’ contact line. The obtained velocity dependence of the ‘effective’ contact angle determines the critical point at which a transition to a different flow regime takes place, where the fluid above the substrate stops spreading whereas the wetting front inside it continues to propagate.

A new approach to the modelling of wetting fronts in porous media on the Darcy scale is developed, based on considering the types (modes) of motion the menisci go through on the pore scale. This approach is illustrated using a simple model case of imbibition of a viscous incompressible liquid into an isotropic porous matrix with two modes of motion for the menisci, the wetting mode and the threshold mode. The latter makes it necessary to introduce an essentially new technique of conjugate problems that allows one to link threshold phenomena on the pore scale with the motion on the Darcy scale. The developed approach (a) makes room for incorporating the actual physics of wetting on the pore scale, (b) brings in the physics associated with pore-scale thresholds, which determine when sections of the wetting front will be brought to a halt (pinned), and, importantly, (c) provides a regular framework for constructing models of increasing complexity.