Sphere entry through an oil lens floating on water

Linda B. Smolka and Clare K. McLaughlin
Phys. Rev. Fluids 4, 044001 – Published 1 April 2019
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Abstract

The low-speed vertical entry of a sphere onto a two-phase fluid consisting of an oil lens floating on a water surface is examined in experiments using spheres with different radii, densities, and materials. Oil coats both the leading edge of the sphere as it penetrates the free surface of the two-phase fluid and the wall of the air-entraining cavity that forms behind the descending sphere. Spheres with lower inertia form smooth cavities whereas spheres with higher inertia develop a three-dimensional crumpled morphology along the cavity wall that we demonstrate is due to a shear-induced instability between the oil layer and surrounding water near the sphere front. Despite these different dynamics, the sphere depth at collapse, either by deep seal or rupture, scales logarithmically with sphere mass for all of the spheres examined. We also observe, for the first time to our knowledge, the following phenomena: As air evacuates the necked region of the cavity, the oil coating the cavity forms an oil filament tethering the two disjoint air cavities together before eventually breaking up into satellite drops. For the experimental conditions in this study, the oil lens at the free surface is critical to forming an air-entraining cavity; with no oil lens, only a small air pocket forms as the water completely wets the spheres either sealing the free surface or forming a quasistatic cavity.

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  • Received 15 June 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.4.044001

©2019 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Fluid Dynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Linda B. Smolka* and Clare K. McLaughlin

  • Department of Mathematics, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania 17837, USA

  • *lsmolka@bucknell.edu

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Issue

Vol. 4, Iss. 4 — April 2019

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