Comparing the simulation thickness profile and expansion curve to those of experiments

In this research, we simulate a tin droplet being hit by a laser using the Basilisk flow solver.
When the droplet is hit, it flattens into a sheet with a rim that expands and later retracts.
During this process, ligaments can be shed from the rim, and we are interested in predicting
how this happens by analyzing the thickness profile of the sheet and the expansion curve.
We run nine simulations using three different Weber numbers (We = 100,200,500) and three
different values for the width of the pressure profile, which is a raised cosine with W indicating
the width (W = 1.5,1.75,2). From each simulation, we extract the sheet thickness and its
radius over time. We use non-dimensional values and use the models in this paper to collapse
the curves to show a clear pattern in how the sheet evolves. We also extract the expansion
curves and compare them with models and experiments from literature.
We find that the sheet expands later in the simulations than in experiments. This is likely
due to the lack of mass shedding in the simulated rim, which would otherwise lower the rim
mass and causes it to retract earlier. Lastly, we test an identity that links the expansion and
thickness profile models and find that our simulation parameters do not match the identity,
because of the lack of mass shedding.