On the Comparison Between a Liquid Jet and a Droplet Train

The surface normal impingement of a cylindrical liquid jet emanating from a nozzle is of use in numerous technological applications (e.g.., waterjet cutting). If a greater distance between the nozzle and the impingement surface is allowed, then the initially continuous liquid jet may fragment into a train of discrete droplets, whose peak impact force can exceed that of an unbroken continuous liquid jet. The present study experimentally investigates the force imparted by these two distinctly different processes for identical flow conditions (i.e., velocity, jet diameter, etc.). Based on the conservation of momentum, a justification for the significantly higher peak forces observed in the droplet train case is presented.