Droplet penetration through an inclined mesh

Abstract

Droplets with different Weber numbers We impacting meshes at various inclination angles α were investigated using high-speed photography. It was found that the droplet mesh penetration can be completely suppressed by inclining the mesh. Phase diagrams in the (We, α)-plane determining the expected type of penetration have been determined experimentally for meshes of various structures. It was shown that the Weber numbers for transition between no-penetration and incomplete penetration as well as for transition between incomplete penetration and complete penetration increase monotonically with α. A simple model for predicting transition thresholds is proposed and is validated by comparisons with experimental results. It is shown that both the inclination angle and the mesh open area fraction determine the type of penetration.