Rapid generation of relaxed centimeter-sized drops by capillary auto-ejection

Abstract

Many microgravity experiments require centimeter-sized spherical liquid drops. In drop-tower experiments, only a few seconds of microgravity are available, so the drops must be generated and reach a nearly relaxed state within a very short time. We investigate capillary auto-ejection (puddle jumping) as a passive mechanism for producing free-floating drops and investigate how the supporting cavity can be shaped to minimize the relaxation time after ejection. For cavities with a parabolic cross-section filled with a fixed liquid volume, minimization of the initial liquid surface area yields a unique shape, and smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations show that this shape also gives the shortest relaxation time within the parabolic family. Introducing a shallow central depression into the cavity reduces the relaxation time further, despite producing a larger initial liquid surface area. These results provide design principles for capillary-driven drop generators that enable the rapid production of relaxed centimeter-sized drops during the short microgravity intervals available in drop towers.