Inertia dominated drop collisions. II. An analytical solution of the Navier–Stokes equations for a spreading viscous film

This study is devoted to a theoretical description of an unsteady laminar viscous flow in a spreading film of a Newtonian fluid. Such flow is generated by normal drop impact onto a dry substrate with high Weber and Reynolds numbers. An analytical self-similar solution for the viscous flow in the spreading drop is obtained which satisfies the full Navier–Stokes equations. The characteristic thickness of a boundary layer developed near the wall uniformly increases as a square root of time. An expression for the thickness of the boundary layer is used for the estimation of the residual film thickness formed by normal drop impact and the maximum spreading diameter. The theoretical predictions agree well with the existing experimental data. A possible explanation of the mechanism of formation of an uprising liquid sheet leading to splash is also proposed.