Simulation of lateral jet formation in high-speed liquid droplet impingement and its impact on crater side wall

Abstract

The formation of a high-velocity lateral jet has been shown to impact the erosion characteristics of high-speed liquid droplet impingement (LDI) erosion. In this study, the dynamics of LDI on a planar rigid surface with a side wall were discussed. This setup serves as a typical representation of a crater, which is formed in the advanced stages of high-speed LDI erosion. In this setup, the lateral jet that is ejected from the contact edge of the droplet interacts with the crater side wall. As the lateral jet impacts the side wall, an axial flow develops generating extremely high pressure on both the target surface wall and the side wall. The potential damage to the wall surfaces was quantified by measuring the pressure on the wall. Lastly, we computed the impact pressure for various standoff distances (i.e., the distance between the droplet and the side wall).