Effects of viscoelasticity on drop impact and spreading on a solid surface

The effects of viscoelasticity on drop impact and spreading on a flat solid surface are studied computationally using a finite-difference-front-tracking method. The finitely extensible nonlinear elastic-Chilcott-Rallison model is used to account for the fluid viscoelasticity. It is found that viscoelasticity favors advancement of contact line during the spreading phase, leading to a slight increase in the maximum spreading, in agreement with experimental observations [Huh, Jung, Seo, and Lee, Microfluid. Nanofluid. 18, 1221 (2015)]. However, in contrast with the well-known antirebound effects of polymeric additives, the viscoelasticity is found to enhance the tendency of the drop rebound in the receding phase. These results suggest that the antirebound effects are mainly due to the polymer-induced modification of wetting properties of the substrate rather than the change in the material properties of the drop fluid. A model is proposed to test this hypothesis. It is found that the model results in good qualitative agreement with the experimental observations and the antirebound behavior can be captured by the modification of surface wetting properties in the receding phase.