Impingement of a water droplet onto a rotational surface

Abstract

In the present study, the impact of a water droplet onto a rotational surface was experimentally studied. The effects of the impact velocity, the rotational speed, and the impact radial position on the impact phenomena were carefully investigated. The phenomena of asymmetric spreading, finger formation, and secondary droplets were observed. Moreover, experiments of a water droplet impacting onto a stationary surface with different impact velocities were also conducted for comparisons. The results showed that, at the same impact velocity, the increase in the rotational speed or the impact radial position could result in the increase in the wetting length in the angular direction and the wetting area. In addition, at the same impact velocity, the dimensionless wetting length in the radial direction on the rotational surface was generally lower than the spreading factor on the stationary surface. In addition, new correlations for the spreading ratio, the dimensionless excess spread area, the dimensionless maximum wetting area, and the number of fingers appearing at the angle of 50° after impact were proposed. The increase in the impact velocity and the surface linear velocity could both promote the formation of the fingers at the angle of 50° after impact. In addition, the dimensionless horizontal displacement of the secondary droplet was found to be mainly influenced by the impact velocity, while the surface linear velocity only had a minor influence.