Droplet Systems

Abstract

Droplets in the form of sprays occur in nature for example as fogs, clouds, and rain as well as in numerous technical applications, such as fuel combustion or spray painting. For the simulation of these complex droplet systems it is important to understand the behavior of simpler systems, such as regular three-dimensional or two-dimensional arrays. Regular droplet configurations can be generated with droplet stream generators or with droplet on demand generators. Single droplets can be studied either as moving droplets or as suspended droplets. Freely falling water droplets have been used to study evaporation rates. Motionless droplets have been investigated with different suspension techniques. In the classical suspension technique larger droplets are suspended by thin fibers, threads or filaments. Physicists have accomplished stable levitation with different contact-free forces. A stable position is obtained by subjecting the levitated material to restoring forces vertically and horizontally.