Equilibrium shapes and floatability of static and vertically vibrated heavy liquid drops on the surface of a lighter fluid

A small drop of a heavier fluid may float on the surface of a lighter fluid supported by surface tension forces. In equilibrium, the drop assumes a radially symmetric shape with a circular triple-phase contact line. We show that such a floating liquid drop with a sufficiently small volume has two distinct equilibrium shapes at terrestrial gravity: one with a larger and one with a smaller radius of the triple-phase contact line. Static stability analysis reveals that both shapes could be stable if the drop volume is below a certain critical value. Experiments conducted with mu L-sized water drops floating on commercial oil support the existence of multiple contact line radii for a drop with fixed volume. Next, we experimentally study the floatability of a less viscous water drop on the surface of a more viscous and less dense oil, subjected to a low-frequency (Hz-order) vertical vibration. We find that in a certain range of amplitudes, vibration helps heavy liquid drops to stay afloat. The physical mechanism of the increased floatability is explained by the horizontal elongation of the drop driven by subharmonic Faraday waves. The average length of the triple-phase contact line increases as the drop elongates that leads to a larger average lifting force produced by the surface tension.

Automated summary

We find that a small floating liquid drop has two stable shapes under terrestrial gravity, both with different radii of the triple-phase contact line. Static stability analysis shows that both shapes could be stable if the drop volume is below a certain critical value. Experiments demonstrate the existence of multiple contact line radii for floating water drops on commercial oil.