Hydrodynamics of passing-over motion during binary droplet collision in shear flow

A combined experimental and numerical study is undertaken to investigate the hydrodynamic characteristics of single-phase droplet collision in a shear flow. The passing-over motion of interactive droplets is observed, and the underlying hydrodynamic mechanisms are elucidated by the analysis of the motion trajectory, transient droplet deformation and detailed hydrodynamic information (e.g., pressure and flow fields). The results indicate that the hydrodynamic interaction process under shear could be divided into three stages: approaching, colliding, and separating. With the increasing confinement, the interaction time for the passing-over process is shorter and the droplet processes one higher curvature tip and more stretched profile. Furthermore, the lateral separation Δy/R₁ exhibits larger decrease in the approaching stage and the thickness of the lubrication film is decreased during the interaction. As the initial lateral separation increases, the maximum trajectory shift by the collision interaction is getting smaller. During the collision between two droplets with different sizes, the amplitude of the deformation oscillation of the larger droplet is decreased by reducing the size ratio of the smaller droplet to the bigger one.