Numerical Investigation on Coalescence-Induced Jumping of Centripetal Moving Droplets

Coalescence-induced droplet jumping could promote self-removal of droplets, which has broad potential in related fields such as heat-transfer enhancement, self-cleaning, energy harvesting, electricity generation, radiative cooling, and antifrosting/icing. In practical applications, droplets often have initial velocity under external forces. In this work, the coalescence-induced jumping of centripetal moving droplets on a superhydrophobic plane is experimentally observed using a high-speed photography platform, and the effects of the initial velocity of the moving droplet on jumping velocity, energy conversion, and droplet morphology are numerically investigated. Results show that the jumping velocity decreases and then increases as the We number of the moving droplet increases. The main source of the total kinetic energy of the coalesced droplet switches from the released surface energy to the initial kinetic energy of the moving droplet with the increasing We number, but the proportion of the jumping kinetic energy to the total kinetic energy decreases. Besides, the initial velocity of the moving droplet intensifies the droplet deformation and accelerates the process of coalescence-induced jumping. Through theoretical analysis, it is found that the jumping velocity is affected by two mechanisms: the deformation intensification and the liquid bridge impact enhancement.