English

Maximal air bubble entrainment at liquid drop impact

Fluid Dynamics 2015-06-05 v1 Pattern Formation and Solitons

Abstract

At impact of a liquid drop on a solid surface an air bubble can be entrapped. Here we show that two competing effects minimize the (relative) size of this entrained air bubble: For large drop impact velocity and large droplets the inertia of the liquid flattens the entrained bubble, whereas for small impact velocity and small droplets capillary forces minimize the entrained bubble. However, we demonstrate experimentally, theoretically, and numerically that in between there is an optimum, leading to maximal air bubble entrapment. Our results have a strong bearing on various applications in printing technology, microelectronics, immersion lithography, diagnostics, or agriculture.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1205.4761,
  title  = {Maximal air bubble entrainment at liquid drop impact},
  author = {Wilco Bouwhuis and Roeland C. A. van der Veen and Tuan Tran and Diederik L. Keij and Koen G. Winkels and Ivo R. Peters and Devaraj van der Meer and Chao Sun and Jacco H. Snoeijer and Detlef Lohse},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1205.4761},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

4 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-21T21:07:36.592Z