Splashing liquids with ambient gas pressure

Abstract

Splashing occurs when a liquid drop hits the solid or fluid surface at a high velocity. The drop after the impact spreads and forms a corona with a thickened rim, which first develops annular undulations and then breaks into secondary droplets. We have many chances to see splashes in our daily life, e.g., milk crown, splashing paint, and raindrops falling onto a pool, whose characteristics of deformation have a significant impact on the visual reality of the phenomena. Many experimental studies have been conducted to find criteria on when splashing would occur, but the physical mechanisms of splashing are still not completely understood. It was only recently discovered that ambient gas pressure is a principal factor for creating such a splash. In this paper, therefore, we newly incorporate the ambient gas pressure effect into the Navier-Stokes equations through SPH fluid simulation for representing more accurate splashing dynamics. Our experiments demonstrated that the new approach requires very little additional computing cost to capture realistic liquid behaviors like fingering, which have not previously been attained by SPH nor most schemes for fluid simulation.