Phase field simulation of a droplet impacting a solid surface

We simulate a droplet impacting on a solid surface using a phase field model consisting of the Cahn-Hilliard and Navier Stokes equations with the generalized Navier boundary condition. An efficient gradient stable scheme is used to solve the system in axisymmetric coordinates. Our objective is to understand numerically the mechanisms leading to different impacting phenomena such as adherence, bouncing, partial bouncing, and splashing. In particular, we study how various processes are affected by the relevant dimensionless parameters: the Reynolds number, Weber number, density ratio, viscosity ratio, and the wettability of the solid surface. We also compare our numerical results with the experimental results and observe almost quantitative agreement. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.