WALKING BEHAVIOR OF AN OIL DROPLET AT AN AIR-LIQUID INTERFACE DRIVEN BY SURFACE WAVES

This study reports the motion of oil droplets driven by low-amplitude, externally generated surface waves on an air-water interface, which is investigated experimentally. Comprehensive visualization studies are delineated, and physical insights into the phenomena are presented. A unique method to generate surface waves over the free surface of water to examine the motion of the droplets is elucidated. The morphology of the droplets is discussed, and the change in their size is analyzed. The trajectories of the droplets deposited at different points are determined for two different frequencies as well as the two different locations of the plunger. For both locations of the plunger, a limit cycle is observed in the trajectories of the droplets at a higher frequency. Furthermore, the effect of the plunger frequencies on the velocity of the droplets is investigated. The result shows that as plunger frequency increases, the droplet propagation velocity also increases. Moreover, the influence of the droplet deposition point on its velocity in the presence of a single plunger is discussed.