A Numerical Investigation on the Collision Behavior of Polymer Droplets

Binary droplet collisions are a key mechanism in powder coatings production, as well as in spray combustion, ink-jet printing, and other spray processes. The collision behavior of the droplets using Newtonian and polymer liquids is studied numerically by the coupled level-set and volume of fluid (CLSVOF) method and adaptive mesh refinement (AMR). The deformation process, the internal flow fields, and the energy evolution of the droplets are discussed in detail. For binary polymer droplet collisions, compared with the Newtonian liquid, the maximum deformation is promoted. Due to the increased viscous dissipation, the colliding droplets coalesce more slowly. The stagnant flow region in the velocity field increases and the flow re-direction phenomenon is suppressed, so the polymer droplets coalesce permanently. As the surface tension of the polymer droplets decreases, the kinetic and the dissipated energy increases. The maximum deformation is promoted, and the coalescence speed of the droplets slows down. During the collision process, the dominant pressure inside the polymer droplets varies from positive pressure to negative pressure and then to positive pressure. At low surface tension, due to the non-synchronization in the movement of the interface front, the pressure is not smooth and distributes asymmetrically near the center of the droplets.