Unveiling the dynamics of ultra high velocity droplet impact on solid surfaces

The impact of a liquid droplet onto a solid surface is a phenomenon present in a wide range of natural processes and technological applications. In this study, we focus on impact conditions characterised by ultra high velocities (up to 500 m/s), to investigate—for the first time—how the impact dynamics change when the compressibility of the liquid in the droplet is no longer negligible. A water droplet impacting a dry substrate at four different velocities, from 50 to 500 m/s, is simulated. Such conditions are particularly relevant to aviation as well as industrial gas turbine engine risk management. Thus, numerical investigations as the one we present here provide a powerful tool to analyse the process. We find that increasing the impact velocity changes the flow field within and outside the droplet the moment that the compressibility can no longer be neglected, with the rise of pressure fronts in both regions. Increasing the impact velocity, the compressibility affects also the lamella formed and changes its ejection velocity observed over time (and thus the wetting behaviour) when the region shift from incompressible to compressible. Moreover, it is found that the maximum pressure observed at the wall during the impact is located at the corner of the impact, where the lamella is ejected, not in the centre, and it is influenced by the initial velocity. To predict the maximum pressure experienced by the surface during the high velocity impact, we propose a correlation based on the initial Weber and Reynolds number of the droplet. The complexity and the scales of the dynamics involved in the ultra-high velocity impact is limiting the experimental and analytical studies. To the best of our knowledge there are no experimental data currently available at such conditions. In this study, through numerical simulations, new insights about the impact dynamics at such conditions are provided.