Numerical modeling of coupled viscoelastic hollow-droplet impact

Develop a numerical framework that quantitatively predicts the coupled dynamics of hollow viscoelastic droplet impact, including bubble collapse and rupture, counter-jet formation and detachment, filament thinning, and beads-on-a-string formation.

Background

The paper experimentally investigates hollow droplets containing aqueous poly(ethylene oxide) solutions impacting an aluminum surface. It characterizes how polymer concentration and impact velocity influence spreading, counter-jet growth, bubble rupture, filament thinning, beads-on-a-string formation, and the transition among deposition, partial deposition, and counter-jet detachment.

Although prior numerical studies have addressed Newtonian hollow-droplet impact and numerical work exists for dense polymeric droplets, the coupled multiphase processes observed here—particularly the interaction among viscoelastic stresses, entrapped-bubble dynamics, counter-jet evolution, and filament breakup—remain without a predictive numerical treatment. The authors identify development of such a framework as future work to complement the experiments and improve quantitative prediction.