Influence of the liquid film thickness on the coefficient of restitution for wet particles

Abstract

The normal coefficient of restitution (COR) for a spherical particle bouncing on a wet plane is investigated experimentally and compared with a model characterizing the energy loss at impact. For fixed ratios of liquid film thickness $\delta$ to particle diameter $D$, the wet COR is always found to decay linearly with St$^{-1}$, where St, the Stokes number, measures the particle inertia with respect to the viscous force of the liquid. Such a dependency suggests a convenient way of predicting the wet COR with two fit parameters: A critical COR at infinitely large St and a critical St at zero COR. We characterize the dependency of the two parameters on $\delta/D$ and compare it with a model considering the energy loss from the inertia and the viscosity of the wetting liquid. This investigation suggests an analytical prediction of the COR for wet particles.