Search for: All records

Dynamic variables of drop impact such as force, drag, pressure, and stress distributions are key to understanding a wide range of natural and industrial processes. While the study of drop impact kinematics has been in constant progress for decades thanks to high-speed photography and computational fluid dynamics, research on drop impact dynamics has only peaked in the last 10 years. Here, we review how recent coordinated efforts of experiments, simulations, and theories have led to new insights on drop impact dynamics. Particularly, we consider the temporal evolution of the impact force in the early- and late-impact regimes, as well as spatiotemporal features of the pressure and shear-stress distributions on solid surfaces. We also discuss other factors, including the presence of water layers, air cushioning, and nonspherical drop geometry, and briefly review granular impact cratering by liquid drops as an example demonstrating the distinct consequences of the stress distributions of drop impact. 

Abstract Drop impact causes severe surface erosion, dictating many important natural, environmental and engineering processes and calling for substantial prevention and preservation efforts. Nevertheless, despite extensive studies on the kinematic features of impacting drops over the last two decades, the dynamic process that leads to the drop-impact erosion is still far from clear. Here, we develop a method of high-speed stress microscopy, which measures the key dynamic properties of drop impact responsible for erosion, i.e., the shear stress and pressure distributions of impacting drops, with unprecedented spatiotemporal resolutions. Our experiments reveal the fast propagation of self-similar noncentral stress maxima underneath impacting drops and quantify the shear force on impacted substrates. Moreover, we examine the deformation of elastic substrates under impact and uncover impact-induced surface shock waves. Our study opens the door for quantitative measurements of the impact stress of liquid drops and sheds light on the origin of low-speed drop-impact erosion.