Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian simulations of highly electrically charged micro-droplet Coulomb explosion deformation pathways

Abstract

Numerical simulation results of the Coulomb explosion pathways of cooled water and heated glycol droplets electrically charged to the critical Rayleigh limit are presented, calculated using an axi-symmetric finite element scheme previously used for the same problem [Radcliffe A. J., Non-conforming finite elements for axisymmetric charged droplet deformation dynamics and Coulomb explosions, Int. J. Num. Meth. Fluids 71:249–268, (2013), doi:10.1002/fld.3667.] which has been adapted to use arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) methods and a novel tip reconstruction technique in order to greatly improve its accuracy in matching available experimental data.