Correlation between experimental results and numerical solutions of the Navier-Stokes problem for noncoalescing liquid drops with Marangoni effects

Experiments show that, when two drops are brought in contact and pushed toward each other in the presence of temperature differences, coalescence is inhibited. Axisymmetric numerical solutions of the Navier-Stokes problem have been obtained to give an explanation of the phenomenon, assuming that a thin air film exists between the contacting drops and that, provided that well-defined dynamic conditions prevail on the Liquid surfaces, the film experiences a suitable pressure that balances the pressure in the drops. The numerical results agree with the experimental ones, qualitatively explain why an air film between the drops could be created by Marangoni effects and show that the suppression of coalescence is obtained as long as films sufficiently large exhibit excess pressures of the same order of magnitude of the pressure needed to deform the drops. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics.