Deformation and breakup dynamics of droplets within a tapered channel
In this paper, we numerically investigate the breakup dynamics of droplets in an emulsion flowing in a tapered microchannel with a narrow constriction. The mesoscale approach for multicomponent fluids with near contact interactions is shown to capture the deformation and breakup dynamics of droplets interacting within the constriction, in agreement with experimental evidence. In addition, it permits us to investigate in detail the hydrodynamic phenomena occurring during breakup stages.