Numerical study of the 3D-shape of a drop immersed in a fluid under an elongational flow with vorticity

Abstract

This work focuses on a three-dimensional analysis of the deformation of a drop — immersed in a Newtonian fluid— generated by a 2D elongational flow with vorticity. The study of steady-state deformations of the cross-section of the drop shows a prevalent non-circular shape. The axisymmetric idealization of the ellipsoid is not observed nor the linear dependency between capillary number and deformation of the drop, as Taylor and Cox theory predicted. Our numerical results are consistent with experiments and other numerical simulations. However, in the latter cases, measurements of the cross section of the drop are few while a limited class of flows is applied. In this work, deformations induced by general two-dimensional flows upon the 3D drop shape are presented with special emphasis about the length scale along the third axis —perpendicular to the plane of the applied flow field.