Droplet breakup by multimodal nonlinear Rayleigh Taylor instability

Young, Calvin J.; Cook, Andrew W.; McFarland, Jacob A.

doi:10.1016/j.ijmultiphaseflow.2025.105490

Droplet breakup by multimodal nonlinear Rayleigh Taylor instability

Journal Article · Tue Oct 21 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · International Journal of Multiphase Flow

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmultiphaseflow.2025.105490· OSTI ID:3000819

Young, Calvin J. ^[1]; ^[2]; ^[1]

Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

A droplet impacted by a shock wave will undergo a process of fragmentation due to the development of interfacial hydrodynamic instabilities. The interface experiences variable acceleration and shear that result in the development of both inertial (Rayleigh–Taylor) and shear (Kelvin–Helmholtz) instabilities. These perturbations grow in time and drive the fragmentation and breakup of the deformed droplet. Experiments are performed on nominally 0.86 mm water droplet subjected to a Mach 7.6 detonation wave, resulting in a high Weber number (~36,000) breakup event. Perturbation growth is measured from a series of high-speed (> MHz) shadowgraph images. It is proposed that, given the size of the large-scale perturbations observed in experiments, these instabilities are growing in the non-linear regime and can be described by bubble-merger models for nonlinear mixing. Calculations are performed for the growth rates and size of these instabilities using deformation and external flow models to establish the time-dependent boundary conditions. The concurrence of the measured perturbation widths and the predictions of the simple model lend credence to the theory. This novel approach serves to open a new avenue in the characterization of droplet breakup via hydrodynamic instabilities.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344

OSTI ID:: 3000819

Report Number(s):: LLNL--JRNL-2010749

Journal Information:: International Journal of Multiphase Flow, Journal Name: International Journal of Multiphase Flow Journal Issue: N/A Vol. 194; ISSN 0301-9322

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (15)

Use of breakup time data and velocity history data to predict the maximum size of stable fragments for acceleration-induced breakup of a liquid drop Pilch, M.; Erdman, C. A. International Journal of Multiphase Flow, Vol. 13, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1016/0301-9322(87)90063-2	journal	November 1987
Droplet breakup and evaporation in liquid-fueled detonations Young, Calvin J.; Duke-Walker, Vasco O.; McFarland, Jacob A. Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, Vol. 160 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2024.111324	journal	January 2025
Aerobreakup in disturbed subsonic and supersonic flow fields Theofanous, T. G.; Li, G. J.; Dinh, T. N. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 593 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022112007008853	journal	November 2007
On aerobreakup in the stagnation region of high-Mach-number flow over a bluff body Dworzanczyk, A. R.; Viqueira-Moreira, M.; Langhorn, J. D. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 1002 https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2024.1092	journal	December 2024
A comparative study of the turbulent Rayleigh–Taylor instability using high-resolution three-dimensional numerical simulations: The Alpha-Group collaboration Dimonte, Guy; Youngs, D. L.; Dimits, A. Physics of Fluids, Vol. 16, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1688328	journal	May 2004
Nonlinear effects in the combined Rayleigh-Taylor/Kelvin-Helmholtz instability Olson, Britton J.; Larsson, Johan; Lele, Sanjiva K. Physics of Fluids, Vol. 23, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3660723	journal	November 2011
The physics of aerobreakup. II. Viscous liquids Theofanous, T. G.; Mitkin, V. V.; Ng, C. L. Physics of Fluids, Vol. 24, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3680867	journal	February 2012
Experimental observations of turbulent mixing due to Kelvin–Helmholtz instability on the OMEGA Laser Facility Smalyuk, V. A.; Hansen, J. F.; Hurricane, O. A. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 19, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4752015	journal	September 2012
The Rayleigh-Taylor Instability driven by an accel-decel-accel profile Ramaprabhu, P.; Karkhanis, V.; Lawrie, A. G. W. Physics of Fluids, Vol. 25, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4829765	journal	November 2013
On the Instability of Superposed Fluids in a Gravitational Field. Layzer, David The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 122 https://doi.org/10.1086/146048	journal	July 1955
Analytic approach to nonlinear hydrodynamic instabilities driven by time-dependent accelerations Mikaelian, Karnig O. Physical Review E, Vol. 81, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.81.016325	journal	January 2010
Evolution of the single-mode Rayleigh-Taylor instability under the influence of time-dependent accelerations Ramaprabhu, P.; Karkhanis, V.; Banerjee, R. Physical Review E, Vol. 93, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.93.013118	journal	January 2016
Drop-Size Distributions Associated with Intense Rainfall Willis, Paul T.; Tattelman, Paul Journal of Applied Meteorology, Vol. 28, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1989)028<0003:DSDAWI>2.0.CO;2	journal	January 1989
Aerodynamic shattering of liquid drops Nicholls, J. 6th Aerospace Sciences Meeting https://doi.org/10.2514/6.1968-83	conference	January 1968
Modeling the Effects of Drop Drag and Breakup on Fuel Sprays Liu, Alex B.; Mather, Daniel; Reitz, Rolf D. International Congress & Exposition, SAE Technical Paper Series https://doi.org/10.4271/930072	conference	March 1993

Similar Records

Transient growth of droplet instabilities in a stream

Journal Article · Tue Jan 14 23:00:00 EST 2014 · Physics of Fluids (1994) · OSTI ID:22257021

Evolution of highly multimodal Rayleigh–Taylor instabilities

Journal Article · Wed Jul 10 20:00:00 EDT 2024 · High Energy Density Physics · OSTI ID:2406654

Galinstan liquid metal breakup and droplet formation in a shock-induced cross-flow

Journal Article · Mon May 21 20:00:00 EDT 2018 · International Journal of Multiphase Flow · OSTI ID:1444082

Related Subjects

Droplet breakup
Hydrodynamic instability
Kelvin–Helmholtz
Rayleigh–Taylor

Droplet breakup by multimodal nonlinear Rayleigh Taylor instability

Citation Formats

References (15)

Similar Records

Related Subjects