Splashing phenomena of room temperature liquid metal droplet striking on the pool of the same liquid under ambient air environment

• Study on splashing phenomena of room temperature liquid metal droplets in air.
• Oxidation and temperature effects of droplets on flow impact dynamics were disclosed.
• Distinctions between metal and water flow dynamics were comparatively investigated.
• Results are critical for liquid metal spraying cooling and printed electronics etc.

In this article, the fluid dynamics of room temperature liquid metal (RTLM) droplet striking onto a pool of the same liquid in ambient air was systematically investigated. A series of experiments were conducted in order to disclose the influence of the oxidation effect on the impact dynamics. The droplet shape and transient flow behavior were recorded with the aid of a high-speed digital camera. The impact energy stored in the splash structures was estimated via a theoretical model and several morphological parameters obtained from the instantaneous images of the splash. It was observed that the droplet shape and the splashing morphology of RTLM were drastically different from those of water, so was the impact dynamics between room temperature LM pool and high temperature LM pool. According to the energy analysis, it was disclosed that the height of the jet is highly sensitive to the viscosity of the fluid, which is subjected to the oxidation effect and temperature effect simultaneously. These basic findings are important for the application of RTLM in a series of newly emerging technologies such as liquid metal based spray cooling, ink-jet printed electronics, interface material painting and coating, metallurgy, and 3D packages, etc.

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