On the splashing of high-speed drops impacting a dry surface

When a drop impacts a dry surface at high velocity, it atomises into secondary droplets. These small droplets are generated by one of two types of splashes: either by a prompt splash from the spreading rim at the surface or by a thin corona splash, which levitates from the surface. This study investigates the splashing mechanisms experimentally using multiple high-resolution cameras and characterises the outcome of both splashing types at high Weber and Reynolds numbers. We demonstrate that the prompt splash is well described by the Rayleigh–Taylor instability of the rapidly advancing liquid lamella and determine the boundaries defining this splashing regime, which allows us to distinguish the prompt from the corona splash. Furthermore, we provide an expression to estimate the elapsed time during which the secondary droplets are generated, which is then implemented in the theory of Riboux & Gordillo ( Phys. Rev. Lett. , vol. 113 (2), 2014, 024507). This theoretical approach together with detailed quantification of the splashing outcome allows us to completely predict the outcome of both splashing types, which includes the mean size, velocity and total ejected volume of the secondary droplets. The detailed model proposed here can be indeed used to understand, characterise and predict more accurately the underlying physics in several applications.