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Influences of initial streamwise rotation of a droplet under a uniform flow

A spherical droplet is given an initial rotation in the streamwise direction and is impulsively accelerated by a uniform free stream. Numerical results for the deformation and dynamics of the droplet are obtained by utilising a finite volume staggered mesh method with a moving mesh interface tracking scheme. The fluid dynamics videos of the droplet are presented in the Gallery of Fluid Motion, 2010. By initially rotating the droplet in the streamwise direction, the droplet deforms differently depending on the non-dimensional rotation rate, $Ω^*$. The families of droplet shape are, in ascending $Ω^*$, biconvex, convex-concave and biconcave. While the biconvex and convex-concave families are due to the compression by the combined vortex ring (the lee side of the interface). The biconcave family is formed because of the huge surface tension at the droplet edge that restrains further deformation there. In a special case, the biconcave family releases the combined vortex ring from the droplet. The release of the vortex ring is observed to be at $Re$ one order of magnitude lower than a similar mechanism observed for the flow past a solid sphere. This release of the vortex ring has led to a series of events and a reduction in $C_D$.