Simulations of coalescence of two colliding liquid drops using lattice Boltzmann method

In this paper, two-dimensional numerical simulations of the head-on and off-center binary collision of liquid drops are carried out using lattice Boltzmann method. The coalescence process of drops colliding is freely captured, regardless of tracking equations and drops model. Special attention is paid to investigate the effect of the Weber number, impact velocity, drop size ratio on the coalescence process. The research results demonstrate that numerical results of lattice Boltzmann method are in agreement with qualitatively experimental data in the same Weber number. It is also noted that the first oscillation period is invariably shorter than the second period, regardless of the Weber number. It is further found that variation of the first period of oscillation in off-center collision of two equal-size drops as function of Weber number are higher than the variation of the first period of oscillation in head-on collision of two equal-size drops in the same Weber number. © 2017, © The Author(s) 2017.