Water entry of a superhydrophobic low-density sphere

Abstract

This paper virtually demonstrates an air cavity formed by a superhydrophobic low-density sphere entering into water with the use of a high-speed camera. Unlike the previous results for a high-density sphere, the low-density sphere pinches off the resulting air cavity at the shorter depth before the cavity has fully grown, and attracts minimal air on the rear surface due to rapid deceleration of the sphere in water. The analytical model previously proposed on the time evolution of the cavity shape is thus shown to be no longer valid for the low-density sphere.