Three-Dimensional Self-Similarity of Coalescing Viscous Drops in the Thin-Film Regime. Author Paul Kaneelil, Amir Pahlavan, Nan Xue, Howard Stone Publication Year 2022 Type Journal Article Abstract Coalescence and breakup of drops are classic problems in fluid physics that often involve self-similarity and singularity formation. While the coalescence of suspended drops is axisymmetric, the coalescence of drops on a substrate is inherently three-dimensional. Yet, studies so far have only considered this problem in two dimensions. In this Letter, we use interferometry to reveal the three-dimensional shape of the interface as two drops coalescence on a substrate. We unify the known scaling laws in this problem within the thin-film approximation and find a three-dimensional self-similarity that enables us to describe the anisotropic shape of the dynamic interface with a universal curve. Journal Phys Rev Lett Volume 129 Issue 14 Pages 144501 Date Published 2022 Sep 30 ISSN Number 1079-7114 DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.144501 Alternate Journal Phys Rev Lett PMID 36240413 PubMedGoogle ScholarBibTeXEndNote X3 XML