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Compound cavity formation and splash crown suppression by water entry through proximally adjacent polystyrene beads
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This experimental study examined how hydrophilic spheres entering water interact with buoyant polystyrene beads simulating millimetric microplastics, documenting the splash dynamics and cavity formation that result from these collisions. The findings advance understanding of fluid-structure interactions relevant to how microplastics behave at the water surface during rain and wave events.
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.
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Raindrop impact on floating microplastic rafts drives particle ejection into the atmosphere, with particle wettability being the key determinant — superhydrophobic particles form armored Worthington jets that fragment into airborne liquid marbles carrying microplastics. This mechanism quantifies how rainfall over ocean surfaces can aerosolize microplastics, contributing to their global atmospheric transport and deposition on land.
Droplet Impact on Microparticle Raft: Wettability, density and size govern splashing and microplastic ejection from rafts under raindrop impact
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Laboratory experiments revealed that raindrop impact on floating microplastic rafts drives particle ejection into the atmosphere, with particle wettability being the key determinant — superhydrophobic particles form armored Worthington jets that fragment into airborne liquid marbles carrying microplastics. This mechanism quantifies how rainfall over ocean surfaces can aerosolize microplastics, contributing to their global atmospheric transport and deposition on land.
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