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Updated: Feb 21, 2026

Film Control to Study Contributions of Waves to Droplet Impact Dynamics on Thin Flowing Liquid Films
Published on: August 18, 2018
Droplet impact on flowing liquid films with inlet forcing: the splashing regime
Idris T Adebayo1, Omar K Matar
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ, UK. ia413@ic.ac.uk o.matar@ic.ac.uk.
Abstract:
The impact process of droplets falling obliquely on thin flowing films is studied using a high-speed imaging system with a focus on splashing. Frequency-forcing of the flow rate at the inlet is applied in order to form solitary waves prior to droplet impact. The outcomes associated with impact on targeted regions of the waves are examined; these include the capillary wave region preceding the large wave peak, the flat film region, and the wave hump region. The effect of varying the film flow rate, droplet size, and speed on the splashing regime for each of these regions is elucidated. The results are further compared with those associated with uncontrolled flowing films, and with quiescent films. The present work has demonstrated, for the first time, the contribution made by the spatial structure of waves to the outcome of droplet impact on flowing films.
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