Author(s)

X. Jiang & A.J. James

Abstract

Head-on collision of two equal-sized drops with van der Waals forces X. Jiang & A.J. James Department of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics, University oj Minnesota, USA Abstract Drop collision is significant not only in natural processes, such as raindrop formation, but also in various engineering applications, such as chemical separation, spray coating, encapsulation, and drug delivery. In this study, head on collision of two equal-sized drops in a hyperbolic flow is investigated numerically. It is well known that van der Waals forces become important and govern coalescence when the thickness of the fluid film between the two drops falls into the range of several hundreds of Angstroms, 100-1000 A. We have developed two new numerical methods to introduce non-retarded van der Waals forces into the Navier-Stokes equations. An axisymmetric volume of fluid (VOF) method is used to simulate the motion of a drop toward a symmetry plane where it interacts with, and possibly coalesces with, its mirro

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