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The interaction of droplets with a liquid film plays a central role in numerous scientific and engineering processes. While most existing studies have focused on spherical droplets, it is important to note that droplets can exhibit both spherical and nonspherical shapes at the moment of impact. This study numerically investigates the dynamics of nonspherical droplet impacts on a thin liquid layer, aiming to reveal the unique behaviors and phenomena arising from shape asymmetry. The results show that impact behaviors vary considerably with droplet shape (prolate, spherical, and oblate), even under identical impact conditions. Due to its flattened geometry, an oblate droplet expands more radially, making it more susceptible to splashing and secondary droplet formation. By contrast, a prolate droplet, with its elongated profile, distributes impact energy differently, suppresses lateral spreading, and exhibits greater resistance to splashing. Droplet shape also strongly influences crown geometry, particularly the upper external crown diameter. Notably, the difference in crown diameter between prolate and oblate droplets can reach 12%–15%. In addition, the complex dynamics of air entrapment and bubble bursting are examined in detail. The findings indicate that bubble bursting occurs earlier for prolate droplets than for oblate ones.

The use of supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO 2 ) as an apolar solvent has been known for decades. It offers a greener approach than, e.g., hexane or chloroform, when such solvents are needed. The use of scCO 2 in microsystems, however, has only recently started to attract attention. In microfluidics, the flow characteristics need to be known to be able to successfully design such components and systems. As supercritical fluids exhibit the exciting combination of low viscosity, high density, and high diffusion rates, the fluidic behavior is not directly transferrable from aqueous systems. In this paper, three flow regimes in the scCO 2 –liquid water two-phase microfluidic system have been mapped. The effect of both total flow rate and relative flow rate on the flow regime is evaluated. Furthermore, the droplet dynamics at the bifurcating exit channel are analyzed at different flow rates. Due to the low viscosity of scCO 2 , segmented flows were observed even at fairly high flow rates. Furthermore, the carbon dioxide droplet behavior exhibited a clear dependence on both flow rate and droplet length.

We investigate the effect of turbulence on the collisional growth of micrometer-sized droplets through high-resolution numerical simulations with well-resolved Kolmogorov scales, assuming a collision and coalescence efficiency of unity. The droplet dynamics and collisions are approximated using a superparticle approach. In the absence of gravity, we show that the time evolution of the shape of the droplet-size distribution due to turbulence-induced collisions depends strongly on the turbulent energy-dissipation rate [Formula: see text], but only weakly on the Reynolds number. This can be explained through the [Formula: see text] dependence of the mean collision rate described by the Saffman–Turner collision model. Consistent with the Saffman–Turner collision model and its extensions, the collision rate increases as [Formula: see text] even when coalescence is invoked. The size distribution exhibits power-law behavior with a slope of −3.7 from a maximum at approximately 10 up to about 40 μm. When gravity is invoked, turbulence is found to dominate the time evolution of an initially monodisperse droplet distribution at early times. At later times, however, gravity takes over and dominates the collisional growth. We find that the formation of large droplets is very sensitive to the turbulent energy dissipation rate. This is because turbulence enhances the collisional growth between similar-sized droplets at the early stage of raindrop formation. The mean collision rate grows exponentially, which is consistent with the theoretical prediction of the continuous collisional growth even when turbulence-generated collisions are invoked. This consistency only reflects the mean effect of turbulence on collisional growth.

The droplet dynamic behavior of spraying during the manufacturing process affects tool life, cooling, and lubrication. A detailed understanding of droplet dynamic behavior is required to improve the surface quality while reducing the cutting fluid consumption. In this study, quantitative measurements for droplet diameter, number concentration, and axial velocity were carried out through a phase Doppler particle analyzer technique. The droplet characteristic spatial distributions of a standard twin-fluid nozzle (STN) and a novel twin-fluid nozzle (NTN) under different gas-to-liquid mass ratio (GLR) values were analyzed in detail. The results showed that the high-speed internal gas flow of an atomizing core has a significant effect on improving the synergistically enhanced atomization behavior, and more smaller droplets and an increased droplet momentum are easily obtained. Furthermore, a better spatial distribution of atomization characteristics can be achieved under a higher GLR of 4.3%. Furthermore, the effects of the novel atomizing core structural parameters on the droplet mean velocity spatial distribution, droplet turbulence, and root mean square velocity fluctuation were investigated. The results also showed that the improved NTN can effectively improve the spray atomization performance and droplet dynamic characteristics. In addition, comparative studies of the effect of the atomizing core structure on the machining performance were performed. Compared with the STN, the improved NTN achieves a significant reduction in cutting temperature, tool wear, and surface roughness of 17.25%, 33.96%, and 37.83%, respectively, owing to the better droplet dynamic characteristics and spatial distribution of spray atomization characteristics.

Neurodegenerative diseases and other proteinopathies constitute a class of several dozen illnesses etiologically linked to pathological protein misfolding and aggregation. Because of this strong association with disease pathology, cell death, and aging, accumulation of proteins in aggregates or aggregation-associated structures (inclusions) has come to be regarded by many as a deleterious process, to be avoided if possible. Recent work has led us to see inclusion structures and disordered aggregate-like protein mixtures (which we call dynamic droplets) in a new light: not necessarily as a result of a pathological breakdown of cellular order, but as an elaborate cellular architecture regulating function and stress response. In this review, we discuss what is currently known about the role of inclusion structures in cellular homeostasis, stress response, toxicity, and disease. We will focus on possible mechanisms of aggregate toxicity, in contrast to the homeostatic function of several inclusion structures.

Droplet Dynamics Yanyao Bao and colleagues report on the spreading and bouncing modes of droplets impacting on rough surfaces. The results in article number 2201873 suggest that a higher surface area and roughness promote the transition from bouncing to wetting of a droplet, benefiting surface design for facilitating droplet non‐adhesion features during transport. (Design credit: Dr. Louis Ong)

The deformation and breakup characteristics of liquid rocket propellant 2 (RP-2) droplets are experimentally investigated in a shock tube. The RP-2 droplets are subjected to a weak shock wave, a strong shock, and a detonation wave to deduce the impacts of high-speed and supersonic reacting flows on droplet deformation and breakup. High-speed shadowgraph and schlieren imaging techniques are employed to characterize droplet morphologies, deformation rates, and displacement of the droplet centroid. The results reveal that the transition from a shock wave to a detonation suppresses the deformation of the droplet and augments small-scale breakup. A shift in dominant breakup mechanisms is linked to a significant increase in the Weber number due to an increase in flow velocities and temperatures when transitioning to the detonation case. The experimental data are combined with a droplet stability analysis to predict the “child” (or fragments of the initial “parent” droplet) droplet sizes of each test condition. The child droplet size is shown to decrease as the flow regime transitions toward a detonation. An analytical mass stripping model was also used to determine that the total mass stripped from the parent droplet increased when approaching supersonic reacting conditions. The child droplet sizes and mass stripping rate will ultimately influence evaporation timescales and ignition in supersonic reacting flows, which is important for the development of detonation-based propulsion and power systems.

This book sets out the conditions under which the need for a new approach to the production of architecture in the twenty-first century is established, where our homes and cities are facing increasing pressures from environmental challenges that are compromising our lives and well being. Vibrant architecture embodies a new kind of architectural design practice that explores how lively materials, or 'vibrant matter', may be incorporated into our buildings to confer on them some of the properties of living things, such as movement, growth, sensitivity and self-repair. The theoretical and practical implications of how this may occur are explored through the application of a new group of materials. Characteristically, these substances possess some of the properties of living systems but may not have the full status of being truly alive. They include forms of chemical artificial life such as 'dynamic droplets' or synthetically produced soils. As complex systems, they are able to communicate directly with the natural world using a shared language of chemistry and so, negotiate their continued survival in a restless world. Vibrant architecture may create new opportunities for architectural design practice that venture beyond top-down form-finding programs, by enabling architects to co-design in partnership with human and nonhuman collectives, which result from the production of post natural landscapes. Ultimately, vibrant architecture may operate as an ecological platform for human development that augments the liveliness of our planet, rather than diminishes it.

The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) has experienced tremendous advances and has been well accepted as a useful method to simulate various fluid behaviors. For computational microfluidics, LBM may present some advantages, including the physical representation of microscopic interactions, the uniform algorithm for multiphase flows, and the easiness in dealing with complex boundary. In addition, LBM-like algorithms have been developed to solve microfluidics-related processes and phenomena, such as heat transfer, electric/magnetic field, and diffusion. This article provides a practical overview of these LBM models and implementation details for external force, initial condition, and boundary condition. Moreover, recent LBM applications in various microfluidic situations have been reviewed, including microscopic gaseous flows, surface wettability and solid–liquid interfacial slip, multiphase flows in microchannels, electrokinetic flows, interface deformation in electric/magnetic field, flows through porous structures, and biological microflows. These simulations show some examples of the capability and efficiency of LBM in computational microfluidics.

This study investigates the influence of vibration on droplet dynamics when a droplet impacts a three-dimensional (3D) structured porous medium, focusing on intrinsic properties such as porosity and wettability, along with the effect of vibration phase angle. Using an Allen-Cahn equation-based lattice Boltzmann method (A-C LBM), the research analyzes multiphase flow dynamics. The results compare droplet spreading and penetration on vibrating versus non-vibrating porous media. Without vibration, droplets get trapped within the pores, reaching equilibrium due to adhesive, viscous, and capillary forces. However, sufficient vibrational forces can overcome surface adhesion, allowing droplets to pass through the porous medium. This phenomenon is influenced by the droplet's contact angle and initial impact inertia. The study finds that hydrophobic surfaces, characterised by higher contact angles, significantly reduce liquid infiltration into the medium under both vibrational and non-vibrational conditions. This reduction is due to dominant surface tension and repellent forces, which, in combination with vibrational forces, minimise droplet spreading and penetration, even in highly porous media. Conversely, on hydrophilic surfaces, adhesive and capillary forces enhance the droplet's inertia, causing sudden penetration into the porous medium. Further, the study reveals that the phase angle of vibration critically affects the droplet's behaviour. With sinusoidal vibration, lower phase angles cause the porous medium to move in the opposite direction to the droplet, enhancing the synergy between vibration and inertia forces, leading to rapid infiltration. Higher phase angles, aligning the medium's movement with the droplet's impact path, result in reduced infiltration. Overall, this research provides crucial insights into how porosity, wettability, and vibration phase angle collectively influence droplet dynamics on structured porous media, offering valuable implications for applications involving fluid transport and filtration in porous structures.