Compound cavity formation and splash crown suppression by water entry through proximally adjacent polystyrene beads

Abstract

We move forward the important topic of water entry by documenting splash dynamics arising from the impact of hydrophilic spheres with buoyant millimetric microplastics, mimicked in our study by polystyrene beads. Collision with small, buoyant beads is yet another means to manipulate splash dynamics. In this experimental study, we investigate the fluid–structure interactions between beads and hydrophilic spheres for Froude numbers in the range of 20−100. Generally, hydrophilic spheres entering a liquid bath below the critical velocity of 8 m/s produce minimal fluid displacement and no cavity formation. The presence of proximally adjacent beads atop the fluid with respect to impacting spheres promote flow separation and compound cavities for sufficiently large Froude numbers, while suppressing the growth of splash crowns. Compound cavities consist of a shallow, quasi-static first cavity that seals near the water line, and a second, deeper cavity produced in the wake of descending spheres. A vertically protruding Worthington jet follows cavity collapse. The resulting splash metrics differ from those of hydrophobic spheres with respect to the properties of impacted beads. We find impactors traversing a deep liquid pool layered with beads experience drag reduction when compared to entry into a clean pool due to the drag-reducing benefits of flow separation while not offering a high inertial penalty. Our study unravels the physics behind the widely encountered interaction of solid projectiles impacting passively floating particles, and our results translate to the entry dynamics of water-diving creatures and projectiles into water bodies polluted by floating millimetric microplastics.