Origin and dynamics of vortex rings in drop splashing

Journal Article · Fri Sep 04 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Nature Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9187· OSTI ID:1214655

Lee, Ji San ^[1]; Park, Su Ji ^[1]; Lee, Jun Ho ^[1]; Weon, Byung Mook  ^[2]; Fezzaa, Kamel ^[3]; Je, Jung Ho ^[1]

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1. Pohang Univ. of Science and Technology (Korea). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
2. Sungkyunkwan Univ., Suwon (Korea). School of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering
3. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)

A vortex is a flow phenomenon that is very commonly observed in nature. More than a century, a vortex ring that forms during drop splashing has caught the attention of many scientists due to its importance in understanding fluid mixing and mass transport processes. However, the origin of the vortices and their dynamics remain unclear, mostly due to the lack of appropriate visualization methods. Here, with ultrafast X-ray phase-contrast imaging, we show that the formation of vortex rings originates from the energy transfer by capillary waves generated at the moment of the drop impact. Interestingly, we find a row of vortex rings along the drop wall, as demonstrated by a phase diagram established here, with different power-law dependencies of the angular velocities on the Reynolds number. These results provide important insight that allows understanding and modelling any type of vortex rings in nature, beyond just vortex rings during drop splashing.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 1214655
• Journal Information: Nature Communications, Vol. 6; ISSN 2041-1723
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY