Drop spreading at the impact in the Leidenfrost boiling

Although the Leidenfrost effect has been extensively studied in the past, one challenge for the modeling of this phenomenon remains, namely, how to determine the effect induced by the presence of a vapor film on the frictions exerted on the drop. To address this issue, experiments are carried out on liquids with very different viscosities including water, ethanol, and several mixtures of water and glycerol. The deformation of droplets of a few hundred micrometers, impinging a perfectly smooth solid surface heated above the Leidenfrost temperature, is observed by shadowgraphy using a high-speed camera. Experimental results are compared to a theoretical model which is based on an inviscid asymptotic solution for the flow inside the lamella. This model also considers a lamella thickness which does not depend on the viscosity, the surface tension, and thus on the Reynolds and Weber numbers. This description of the lamella is valid if Weber and Reynolds numbers are high enough. Mass and momentum balances applied to the rim bounding the spreading lamella yield an equation for the rim motion which is then solved numerically. This equation accounts for the momentum transferred to the rim by the liquid coming from the lamella, the capillary forces, and the viscous stress at the separation between the lamella and the rim. The comparison between the model and the experiments suggests that the liquid at the bottom edge of the lamella is dragged by the vapor film given that the vapor velocity in the vapor film is significantly larger than that of the liquid. This process significantly increases the drop spreading for the low viscosity liquids. An analysis of the viscous boundary layer which develops at the bottom edge of the lamella is found to confirm this scenario. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.