On droplet falling velocity

Droplet velocities used in impact studies were investigated using high-speed photography. It was determined that droplets do not reach terminal velocity before a typical impact, raising the question of how to predict impact velocity. This question was investigated experimentally, and the results were used to validate a theoretical model. Experiments used droplets with diameters 0.70mm to 4.0mm, liquids with a density of 791kg/m3 to 1261.5kg/m3, and viscosities 1.0mPa s to 1390.0mPa s, release height up to 1.0m. The ambient pressure was varied between atmospheric and 25kPa. It was shown that the droplet velocity increased with the droplet diameter, liquid density, release height, and ambient pressure reduction but changed marginally with viscosity. A simple dynamic model accounting for the aerodynamic drag was proposed. This model, which uses empirical formulae to determine the instantaneous drag coefficient, predicts velocity, which agrees well with the experimental data within the range of parameters used in this study. It provides a valuable tool for the design of droplet impact studies.