Most studies of droplet impact on liquid pools focus on droplet diameters up to the capillary length (0.27 cm). We break from convention and study extremely large water droplets (1 to 6 cm diameter) falling into a pool of water. We demonstrate that the depth and width of the cavity formed by large droplet impact is greatly influenced by the deformed shape of the droplet at impact (i.e., prolate, spherical, and oblate), and larger droplets amplify this behavior by flattening before impact. In particular, the maximum cavity depth is a function of the Froude number and axis ratio of the droplet just before impact. Further, the cavity depth is more dependent on the droplet height than width, and the maximum cavity diameter is independent of the droplet height. In general, we observe that more oblate droplets result in decreasing cavity depths for a fixed liquid volume. This is because an increase in horizontal droplet diameter results in a reduced impact energy flux and therefore reduced cavity depth.

• Received 16 February 2023
• Revised 6 November 2023
• Accepted 19 February 2024

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.109.045107

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI. Open access publication funded by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

Published by the American Physical Society