Previous studies show that air pollution and wind erosion, which damage a leaf’s epicuticular wax layer, can change leaf surface properties from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. However, the dynamic response of a damaged leaf to a raindrop impact has not been investigated and could clarify the direct influence of changes in wettability on early leaf abscission. In this article, we investigate how leaves with different surface properties respond to falling raindrops, viewing this as a unique system of coupled elasticity and drop dynamics. An elastic beam with tunable surface wettability properties is used as a simple leaf model. We find that wettable beams experience much higher torque and bending energy than nonwettable beams. This is because a drop sticks to a wettable beam, while a drop falls off a nonwettable beam. An analytical model using momentum balance and simple cantilever beam theory quantifies the bending energy and torque experienced by wettable and nonwettable beams. The results elucidate the potential damage caused by raindrops impacting a leaf as a function of its surface wettability and are correlated with environmental factors contributing to premature changes of leaf surface properties.

Diving induces large pressure during water entry accompanied by the creation of cavity and water splash ejected from the free water surface. To minimize impact forces, divers streamline their shape at impact. Here, we investigate the impact forces and splash evolution of wedges entering water as a function of the wedge opening angle. A gradual transition from impactful to smooth entry is observed as the wedge angle decreases. After submersion, the wedge experiences significantly smaller drag forces (two-fold smaller) than immersed wedges. Our experimental findings compare favourably with existing force models upon the introduction of empirically based corrections. We experimentally characterize the shapes of the cavity and splash created by the wedge and find that they are independent of the entry velocity at short times, but that the splash exhibits distinct variations in shape at later times. We propose a one-dimensional model of the splash that takes into account gravity, surface tension and aerodynamic forces. The model shows, in conjunction with experimental data, that the splash shape is dominated by the interplay between a destabilizing Venturi-suction force due to air rushing between the splash and the water surface and a stabilizing force due to surface tension. Taken together, these findings could direct future research aimed at understanding and combining the mechanisms underlying all stages of water entry in application to engineering and bio-related problems, including naval engineering, disease spreading or platform diving.

Raindrop impact on infected plants can disperse micron-sized propagules of plant pathogens (e.g., spores of fungi). Little is known about the mechanism of how plant pathogens are liberated and transported due to raindrop impact. We used high-speed photography to observe thousands of dry-dispersed spores of the rust fungus Puccinia triticina being liberated from infected wheat plants following the impact of a single raindrop. We revealed that an air vortex ring was formed during the raindrop impact and carried the dry-dispersed spores away from the surface of the host plant. The maximum height and travel distance of the airborne spores increased with the aid of the air vortex. This unique mechanism of vortex-induced dispersal dynamics was characterized to predict trajectories of spores. Finally, we found that the spores transported by the air vortex can reach beyond the laminar boundary layer of leaves, which would enable the long-distance transport of plant pathogens through the atmosphere. Significance Understanding the spread of spores of plant pathogens, some of which may serve as potential human allergens, is of great importance to plant and animal health. Raindrop impact is known to be a mechanism for dispersing micron-sized pathogenic spores. However, previous studies have focused only on wet splash droplets formed by raindrop impact, which our results suggest are only a minor contributor to spore dispersal. Our experiments show the importance of air vortices resulting from the drop impacts to disperse spores beyond the laminar boundary layer, with the potential for transport over long distances.

Cavitation bubbles induce impulsive forces on surrounding substrates, particles, or surfaces. Even though cavitation is a traditional topic in fluid mechanics, current understanding and studies do not capture the effect of cavitation on suspended objects in fluids. In the present work, the dynamics of a spherical particle due to a cavitation bubble is experimentally characterized and compared with an analytical model. Three phases are observed: the growth of the bubble where the particle is pushed away, its collapse where the particle approaches the bubble, and a longer time scale postcollapse where the particle continues to move toward the collapsed bubble. The particle motion in the longer time scale presumably results from the asymmetric cavitation evolution at an earlier time. Our theory considering the asymmetric bubble dynamics shows that the particle velocity strongly depends on the distance from the bubble as an inverse-fourth-power law, which is in good agreement with our experimentation. This study sheds light on how small free particles respond to cavitation bubbles in fluids.

Significance: Plunge-diving is a very unique foraging method in the animal kingdom. A limited set of water birds exhibit this behavior, and only one family of seabirds (Sulidae) exhibit this behavior at high speeds. We studied the stability of the bird’s slender and seemingly fragile neck during a plunge-dive by conducting simple experiments that mimic this behavior. An elegant analysis of the interaction among hydrodynamic forces, neck elasticity, and muscle contraction reveals that seabirds dive at appropriate speeds to avoid injury. Considering the popular recreational sport of diving, we also find a diving speed limit for humans to avoid injury.

Many biological surfaces of animals and plants (e.g., bird feathers, insect wings, plant leaves, etc.) are superhydrophobic with rough surfaces at different length scales. Previous studies have focused on a simple drop-bouncing behavior on biological surfaces with low-speed impacts. However, we observed that an impacting drop at high speeds exhibits more complicated dynamics with unexpected shock-like patterns: Hundreds of shock-like waves are formed on the spreading drop, and the drop is then abruptly fragmented along with multiple nucleating holes. Such drop dynamics result in the rapid retraction of the spreading drop and thereby a more than twofold decrease in contact time. Our results may shed light on potential biological advantages of hypothermia risk reduction for endothermic animals and spore spreading enhancement for fungi via wave-induced drop fragmentation.