Dynamics of droplet impact on a ring surface

Abstract

We investigate the dynamics of droplet impacts on a ring-decorated solid surface, which is reported to reduce the integral of contact area over contact time by up to 80%. By using many-body dissipative particle dynamics (MDPD), a particle-based simulation method, we measure the temporal evolution of the shape and the impact force of two specific types of phenomena, overrun and ejection. The numerical model is first validated with experimental data on a plain surface from literature. Then, it is used to extract the impacting force of the ring and substrate separately, showing the ring does not provide the majority of vertical force to redirect the horizontal spreading. The impacting pressure in different concentric rings is also present as a function of time, showing pressure waves traveling from ring to center. The effect of the ring's height and radius on the impacting force is also discussed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first MDPD study on droplets impacting on a solid surface with a validated force analysis.