Fluid flow simulations meet high-speed video: Computer vision comparison of droplet dynamics

Area of Science:

• Fluid Dynamics
• Computational Physics
• Image Analysis

Background:

• Multiphase flows and droplet dynamics are prevalent in nature and industry.
• Mathematical and computational modeling of these phenomena remain challenging research areas.
• Lack of analytical solutions hinders validation of computer simulations for droplet dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a method for validating computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of droplet dynamics against experimental data.
• To leverage high-speed video and computer vision for direct experimental validation.
• To overcome limitations in validating complex multiphase flow simulations.

Main Methods:

• High-speed video imaging of water and glycerol-water mixture droplets impacting hydrophobic and superhydrophobic surfaces.
• Simulation of droplet impact configurations using a lattice-Boltzmann multiphase scheme.
• Quantitative comparison of experimental video frames and simulation outputs using computer vision algorithms.

Main Results:

• A detailed, dynamic one-on-one comparison of droplet impact events was achieved.
• The procedure successfully validated computer simulations against experimental data quantitatively.
• The methodology relies on high-speed video, computer vision, and specialized analysis software.

Conclusions:

• The proposed experimental validation procedure is effective for droplet impact studies.
• This approach provides a robust method for validating multiphase flow simulations.
• The technique is broadly applicable to various multiphase flow systems in research and industry.