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Updated: Oct 23, 2025

Fast Imaging Technique to Study Drop Impact Dynamics of Non-Newtonian Fluids
Published on: March 5, 2014
Spreading-splashing transition of nanofluid droplets on a smooth flat surface
Y T Aksoy1, P Eneren1, E Koos2
1KU Leuven, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Division of Applied Mechanics and Energy Conversion (TME), B-3001 Leuven, Belgium.
Hypothesis:
Even a small fraction of nanoparticles in fluids affects the splashing behavior of a droplet upon impact on a smooth surface.
Experiments:
Nanofluid drop impact onto a smooth sapphire substrate is experimentally investigated over wide ranges of Reynolds (102
Findings:
The non-monotonic behavior of the spreading-to-splashing transition remains the same for nanofluids. However, nanofluids influence this boundary by promoting splashing at low Reynolds numbers. We explain this behavior by increased lamella spreading speed and lift during the lamella spreading stage. Finally, we develop an empirical correlation which describes the splashing threshold dependency on nanoparticle concentration for the first time.
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