Fine Flow Structure at the Miscible Fluids Contact Domain Boundary in the Impact Mode of Free-Falling Drop Coalescence

Abstract

Registration of the flow pattern and the matter distribution of a free falling liquid drop in a target fluid at rest in the impact mode of coalescence when the kinetic energy (KEn) of the drop exceeds its available surface potential energy (ASPe) was carried out by photo and video recording. We studied the evolution of the fine flow structure at the initial stage of the cavity formation. To carry out color registration, the observation field was illuminated by several matrix LED and fiber-optic sources of constant light. The planning of experiments and interpretation of the results were based on the properties of the complete solutions of the fundamental equations of a fluid mechanics system, including the transfer and conversion of energy processes. Complete solutions of the system of equations describe large-scale flow components that are waves or vortices as well as thin jets (ligaments, filaments, fibers, trickles). In experiments, the jets are accelerated by the converted available surface potential energy (ASPe) when the free surfaces of merging fluids were eliminated. The experiments were performed with the coalescence of water, solutions of alizarin ink, potassium permanganate, and copper sulfate or iron sulfate drops in deep water. In all cases, at the initial contact, the drop begins to lose its continuity and breaks up into a thin veil and jets, the velocity of which exceeds the drop contact velocity. Small droplets, the size of which grows with time, are thrown into the air from spikes at the jet tops. On the surface of the liquid, the fine jets leave colored traces that form linear and reticular structures. Part of the jets penetrating through the bottom and wall of the cavity forms an intermediate covering layer. The jets forming the inside layer are separated by interfaces of the target fluid. The processes of molecular diffusion equalize the density differences and form an intermediate layer with sharp boundaries in the target fluid. All noted structural features of the flow are also visualized when a fresh water drop isothermally spreads in the same tap water. Molecular diffusion processes gradually smooth out the fast-changing boundary of merging fluids, which at the initial stage has a complex and irregular shape. Similar flow patterns were observed in all performed experiments; however, the geometric features of the flow depend on the individual thermodynamic and kinetic parameters of the contacting fluids.