Journal article
Bouncing to coalescence transition for droplet impact onto moving liquid pools
- Abstract:
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A droplet impacting a deep fluid bath is as common as rain over the ocean. If the impact is sufficiently gentle, the mediating air layer remains intact, and the droplet may rebound completely from the interface. In this work, we experimentally investigate the role of translational bath motion on the bouncing to coalescence transition. Over a range of parameters, we find that the relative bath motion systematically decreases the normal Weber number required to transition from bouncing to merging. Direct numerical simulations demonstrate that the depression created during impact combined with the translational motion of the bath enhances the air layer drainage on the upstream side of the droplet, ultimately favoring coalescence. A simple geometric argument is presented that rationalizes the collapse of the experimental threshold data, extending what is known for the case of axisymmetric normal impacts to the more general 3D scenario of interest herein.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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- Files:
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 763.7KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1017/jfm.2026.11232
Authors
- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/0439y7842
- Grant:
- EP/W016036/1
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Journal:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics More from this journal
- Volume:
- 1030
- Article number:
- A16
- Publication date:
- 2026-02-27
- Acceptance date:
- 2026-01-26
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1469-7645
- ISSN:
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0022-1120
- Language:
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English
- Pubs id:
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2366418
- Local pid:
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pubs:2366418
- Deposit date:
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2026-02-03
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Harris et al.
- Copyright date:
- 2026
- Rights statement:
- © The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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