Hypothesis

Immiscible liquids are commonly used to achieve unique functions in many applications, where the breakup of compound droplets in airflow is an important process. Due to the existence of the liquid-liquid interface, compound droplets are expected to form different deformation and breakup morphologies compared with single-component droplets.

Experiments

We investigate experimentally the deformation and breakup of compound droplets in airflow. The deformation characteristics of compound droplets are quantitatively analyzed and compared with single-component droplets. Theoretical models are proposed to analyze the transition between breakup morphologies.

Findings

The breakup modes of compound droplets are classified into shell retraction, shell breakup, and core-shell breakup based on the location where the breakup occurs. The comparison with single-component droplets reveals that the compound droplet is stretched more in the flow direction and expands less in the cross-flow direction, and these differences occur when the core of the compound droplet protrudes into the airflow. The transition conditions between different breakup modes are obtained theoretically. In addition, the eccentricity of the compound droplet can lead to the formation of the thick ligament or the two stamens in the droplet middle.