  Droplets on fibers have been extensively studied in the recent years.
Although the equilibrium shapes of simple droplets on fibers are well
established, the situation becomes more complex for compound fluidic systems.
Through experimental and numerical investigations, we show herein that compound
droplets can be formed on fibers and that they adopt specific geometries. We
focus on the various contact lines formed at the meeting of the different
phases and we study their equilibrium state. It appears that, depending on the
surface tensions, the triple contact lines can remain separate or merge
together and form quadruple lines. The nature of the contact lines influences
the behavior of the compound droplets on fibers. Indeed, both experimental and
numerical results show that, during the detachment process, depending on
whether the contact lines are triple or quadruple, the characteristic length is
the inner droplet radius or the fiber radius.
