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Early stages of drop coalescence

Antoine Deblais1,*, Kaili Xie1,†, Peter Lewin-Jones2, Dirk Aarts3, Miguel A. Herrada4, Jens Eggers5, James E. Sprittles2, and Daniel Bonn1

  • 1Van der Waals-Zeeman Institute, Institute of Physics, University of Amsterdam, 1098XH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • 2Mathematics Institute, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
  • 3Department of Chemistry, Physical and Theoretical Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QZ, United Kingdom
  • 4Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingeneria, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville 41092, Spain
  • 5School of Mathematics, University of Bristol, Fry Building, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UG, United Kingdom

  • *Contact author: a.deblais@uva.nl
  • †Contact author: k.xie2@uva.nl
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Phys. Rev. Fluids 10, L042001 – Published 10 April, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.10.L042001

Abstract

Despite the large body of research on coalescence, firm agreement between experiment, theory, and computation has not been established for the very first moments following the initial contact of two liquid volumes. By combining a range of experimental and computational modeling approaches in two different geometries—namely, drop-drop and drop-bath configurations—we elucidated the influence of the intervening gas and van der Waals forces on coalescence. For the simple liquids considered here, the gas influences both pre- and postcontact regimes, with jump-to-contact being the primary mode of merging. Subsequently, wave-like air pockets are observed and ultimately influence the initial opening dynamics of the neck.

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Information

Phys. Rev. Fluids 10, L042001– Published 10 April, 2025
  • Received 1 February 2024
  • Accepted 12 March 2025
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