Secondary atomisation produced by single drop vertical impacts onto heated surfaces

The paper reports an experimental analysis of the secondary atomisation produced by the impact of a single drop on a solid heated surface. Different wall temperatures were used to study different boiling regimes. The size of secondary drops produced by the impact was measured by two techniques, namely the phase Doppler anemometry (PDA) and the image analysis technique (IAT); this allowed to extend the measurable size range from 5.5 μm up to few mm. Two impacting walls with different surface roughness were used to show the effect of this parameter on different atomisation regimes. The liquid viscosity was also varied in a limited range by using water–glycerol mixtures. Image analysis allowed also to define the details of the morphology of drop spreading and break-up.