What is it about?
When two droplets merged, a liquid bridge is formed as the nanoscale between the two facing interfaces. We study the expansion of this bridge, which finally leads to the formation of a single droplet. We model the rate of the bridge expansion, which are driven by different mechanisms in the axial and radial directions.
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Why is it important?
For low viscosity fluid, the bridge that joins the two droplets takes a cylindrical shape, which is maintained all along its expansion. Surprisingly, the increase of the bridge length occurs at a constant velocity and is driven by non-dispersive capillary waves. On other hand, the radial expansion is controlled by an apparent slope discontinuity of the interface rather than by the interface curvature, which occurs at a involves very small scales and has no impact on the rate of bridge expansion.
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This page is a summary of: Bridge expansion after coalescence of two droplets in air: Inertial regime, Physics of Fluids, June 2021, American Institute of Physics,
DOI: 10.1063/5.0055238.
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