Qualitative Inter-relation between drop impacts on a solid surface and the interaction of a droplet placed inside a superheated pool

Abstract

The phenomenon of drop impacts on a solid surface and the interaction of a cold droplet with a superheated liquid pool are both of great relevance in many practical and engineering situations. Most of the reported research in the literature on these phenomena focus on the impact of a droplet on a solid surface or a liquid surface and there are hardly any study on the interaction of a stationary cold droplet inside a hot pool of liquid, a phenomenon observed quite often. This study reports high speed flow visualization of a drop impact on a Teflon-coated solid surface at different liquid properties and impact Reynolds number. Simultaneously, high speed imaging of the interaction of a cold droplet with the superheated olive oil pool has also been carried out. The images show a striking resemblance between the flow dynamics of the two phenomena. A comparison between the two phenomena is made and suggestions are made for the possible underlying physics.