68th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics (November 22, 2015 — November 24, 2015)
P0032: How to make a splash: droplet impact and liquid film applications in aerodynamics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/APS.DFD.2015.GFM.P0032
It all starts from a few innocent drops of rain. Travelling through clouds ensures exposure to a sufficiently large quantity of liquid to drastically affect flight stability. Below freezing temperatures then provide the final ingredient in the recipe for disaster. Ice formation on aircraft remains to this day one of the most treacherous challengs in flight safety. Motivated by far-reaching practical implications, we turn to theoretical and numerical techniques in multi-phase fluid dynamics to weather the storm. The first part of the study is dedicated to the topic of high speed droplet impact and the splashing dynamics occurring in this type of problem. We use a state-of-the-art computational platform based on the volume-of-fluid method to analyse the effects of key parameters such as impact velocity, droplet diameter and angle of incidence on flow morphology and retention rate in high speed flow conditions. We then proceed with a theoretical examination of the resulting thin liquid film and its impact on the properties of the boundary layer, discussing practical examples such as multi-fluid flows past surface roughnesses and corner/flap geometries.
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