Depressurization-induced drop breakup through bubble growth

Drop breakup is often associated with violent impacts onto targets or fast inner bubble growth consecutive to phase change. We report on a well-controlled drop breakup experiment where bubble growth is triggered by the decrease of the ambient pressure. The drop initially sits on a textured hydrophobic surface at controlled temperature, and a bubble grows from the center of the liquid-solid interface. We find a transition from top-breakup to triple-line breakup depending on the initial contact angle of the drop. A minimal model based on inertial dynamics and constant bubble pressure is proposed. It quantitatively captures the growth of the bubble and the distinction between top or triple-line breakup. However, the model only provides an upper bound for the breakup time.