2024/06/24 by Katie A Phillips, Paul A. Milewski, Phillips, Katie A +1 · 2 citations
Engineering · #Drilling and Well Engineering #FOS: Physical sciences #Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn) #Lubricants and Their Additives #Tribology and Lubrication Engineering
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2406.17138
openalex publication_date 2024/06/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We present herein the derivation of a lubrication-mediated (LM) quasi-potential model for droplet rebounds off deep liquid baths, assuming the presence of a persistent dynamic air layer which acts as a lubricating pressure transfer. We then present numerical simulations of the LM model for axisymmetric rebounds of solid spheres and compare quantitatively to current results in the literature, including experimental data in the low speed impact regime. In this regime the LM model has the advantage of being far more computationally tractable than DNS and is also able to provide detailed behaviour within the micro-metric thin lubrication region. The LM system has an interesting mathematical structure, with the lubrication layer providing a free boundary elliptic problem mediating the drop and bath free-boundary evolutionary equations.