  In this article, the fluid dynamics of room temperature liquid metal (RTLM)
droplet impacting onto a pool of the same liquid in ambient air was
investigated. A series of experiments were conducted in order to disclose the
influence of the oxidation effect on the impact dynamics. The droplet shape and
impact phenomenology were recorded with the aid of a high-speed digital camera.
The impact energy stored in the splash structures was estimated via a
theoretical model and several morphological parameters obtained from
instantaneous images of the splash. It was observed that the droplet shape and
the splashing morphology of RTLM were drastically different from those of
water, so was the impact dynamics between room temperature LM pool and high
temperature LM pool. The energy analysis disclosed that the height of the jet
is highly sensitive to the viscosity of the fluid, which is subjected to the
oxidation effect and temperature effect simultaneously, and thus perfectly
explained the phenomena. These basic findings are important for the application
of RTLM in a series of newly emerging technologies such as liquid metal based
spray cooling, ink-jet printed electronics, interface material painting and
coating, metallurgy, and 3D packages, etc.
