On viscoelastic drop impact onto thin films: axisymmetric simulations and experimental analysis

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of fluid elasticity on axisymmetric droplets colliding with pre-existing liquid films, using both numerical and experimental approaches. The numerical simulations involve solving the incompressible flow momentum equations with viscoelastic constitutive laws using the finite volume method and the volume of fluid (VOF) technique to track the liquid’s free surface. Here, the Oldroyd-B model is used as the constitutive equation for the viscoelastic phase. Experiments are also performed for dilute viscoelastic solutions with 0.005% and 0.01% (w/w) polyacrylamide in 80:20 glycerin/water solutions, in order to ensure the validity of the numerical solution and to investigate the elasticity effect. The formation and temporal evolution of the crown parameters are quantified by considering the flow parameters, including the fluid’s elasticity. The results indicate that the axisymmetric numerical solutions reasonably agree with the experimental observations. Generally, the fluid’s elasticity can enlarge the crown dimension at different thicknesses of the fluid film. Moreover, at intermediate values of the Weissenberg number, the extensional force in the crown wall can control the crown propagation. Furthermore, the results reveal that the effects of the Weber number and the viscosity ratio on this problem are more significant at higher values of the Weissenberg number.