Experiments on the dynamics of droplet collisions in a vacuum

Highly controlled experiments of binary droplet collisions in a vacuum environment are performed in order to study the collision dynamics devoid of aerodynamic effects that could otherwise obstruct the experimental observations by causing distortion or even disintegration of the coalesced mass. Pre-collision droplets are generated from capillary stream break-up at wavelengths much larger than those generated with the typical Rayleigh droplet formation in order to reduce the interactions among the collision products. Experimental results show that the range of droplet Weber number necessary to describe the boundaries between permanent coalescence and coalescence followed by separation is several orders of magnitude higher than has been reported in experiments conducted at standard atmospheric pressures with lower viscosity liquids (i.e. hydrocarbon fuels and water). Additionally, the time periods of both the oblate and prolate portions of the coalesced droplet oscillation have been measured and it is reported for the first time that the time period for the prolate portion of the oscillation grows exponentially with the Weber number. Finally, new pictorial results are presented for droplet collisions between non-spherical droplets. Received: 30 June 1998/Accepted: 15 October 1999     

Numerical modeling of the dynamics of a viscous-fluid droplet

A numerical model developed on the basis of the level set method is proposed. This makes it possible to describe both the nonlinear oscillations of a single viscous-fluid droplet and the fragmentation and coalescence processes. The Navier-Stokes equations written in “velocity-pressure” variables on a rectangular uniform grid in cylindrical coordinates are solved using the method of splitting into physical processes. Non-oscillating solutions for two-phase media with a characteristic density ratio of less than 10⁻³ and Re > 1000 are obtained. The possibilities of the approach proposed are demonstrated with the reference to the problem of a droplet falling from a capillary (detachment from the capillary, formation of a “Plato ball”, droplet motion, collision with a plane wall, droplet oscillations on the wall, and droplet spreading). A comparison of the numerical results with the known calculation models and experimental data shows satisfactory agreement with respect to both the phases and the shape of the droplet.     

Drift of a reacting droplet due to the chemoconcentration capillary effect

The motion of a droplet with a first-order chemical reaction taking place at its surface with the participation of a surfactant dissolved in the external medium is considered. Approximate expressions are obtained for the velocity and other characteristics of the autonomous motion of the droplet caused by the surface capillary forces due to the nonuniform distribution of the surfactant over the surface of the moving droplet.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 51–61, May–June, 1990.     

Parametric excitation in non-linear dynamics

Consider a one-mass system with two degrees of freedom, non-linearly coupled, with parametric excitation in one direction. Assuming the internal resonance 1:2 and parametric resonance 1:2 we derive conditions for stability of the trivial solution by using both the harmonic balance method and the normal form method of averaging. If the trivial solution becomes unstable, a stable periodic solution may emerge, there are also cases where the trivial solution is stable and co-exists with a stable periodic solution; if both the trivial solution and the periodic solution(s) are unstable, we find an attracting torus with large amplitudes by a Neimark-Sacker bifurcation. The results of the harmonic balance method and averaging are compared, as well as the results on the Neimark-Sacker bifurcation obtained by the numerical software package CONTENT and by averaging. In all cases we have good agreement.     

Three-Dimensional droplet splashing dynamics measurement with a stereoscopic shadowgraph system

In the current study, a novel three-dimensional (3D) measurement technique is established using a high-speed stereoscopic shadowgraph system, which is applied to investigate the 3D splashing dynamics of silicone oil dropping on liquid films quantitatively. Both crown-type splashing and crown wall bottom breakdown splashing morphologies are involved for measurement and comparison. Based on the shadowgraph images, the secondary droplets diameter, number and mass fraction are determined. The three-dimensional (3D) coordinates of the secondary droplets during the splashing processes are reconstructed and tracked, based on which the 3D trajectories, velocities, ejecting angles and kinetic energy are calculated and analysed. It is found that the secondary droplets in crown bottom breakdown cases have a larger mass fraction and kinetic energy than that in crown-type splashing cases. The measurement indicates that the radial velocity increases with the decreasing of film thickness, while the vertical velocity does not vary too much. Significant disparities between two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) velocity magnitudes as well as kinetic energy have been identified, which indicate that accurate time-resolved 3D measurements are of great importance for quantitative investigation of splashing phenomena and the high-speed stereoscopic shadowgraph system has been proved to be able to play a role.     

Effect of the contact-line dynamics on the oscillations of a compressed droplet

This paper studies the natural and forced oscillations of a deformed droplet of an inviscid liquid surrounded by a different liquid and bounded in the axial direction by solid planes. In equilibrium, the droplet is a figure of revolution and the ratio of its radius to height is significant. The equilibrium contact angle between the side surface of the droplet and the solid surface is different from a right angle. The motion of the contact line is taken into account by setting an effective boundary condition. It is shown that three characteristic ranges of natural frequencies exist.     

Spreading dynamics of droplet on an inclined surface

A three-dimensional unsteady theoretical model of droplet spreading process on an inclined surface is developed and numerically analyzed to investigate the droplet spreading dynamics via the lattice Boltzmann simulation. The contact line motion and morphology evolution for the droplet spreading on an inclined surface, which are, respectively, represented by the advancing/receding spreading factor and droplet wetted length, are evaluated and analyzed. The effects of surface wettability and inclination on the droplet spreading behaviors are examined. The results indicate that, dominated by gravity and capillarity, the droplet experiences a complex asymmetric deformation and sliding motion after the droplet comes into contact with the inclined surfaces. The droplet firstly deforms near the solid surface and mainly exhibits a radial expansion flow in the start-up stage. An evident sliding-down motion along the inclination is observed in the middle stage. And the surface-tension-driven retraction occurs during the retract stage. Increases in inclination angle and equilibrium contact angle lead to a faster droplet motion and a smaller wetted area. In addition, increases in equilibrium contact angle lead to a shorter duration time of the middle stage and an earlier entry into the retract stage.     

Non-linear dynamics of a cracked cantilever beam under harmonic excitation

The presence of cracks in a structure is usually detected by adopting a linear approach through the monitoring of changes in its dynamic response features, such as natural frequencies and mode shapes. But these linear vibration procedures do not always come up to practical results because of their inherently low sensitivity to defects. Since a crack introduces non-linearities in the system, their use in damage detection merits to be investigated. With this aim the present paper is devoted to analysing the peculiar features of the non-linear response of a cracked beam.The problem of a cantilever beam with an asymmetric edge crack subjected to a harmonic forcing at the tip is considered as a plane problem and is solved by using two-dimensional finite elements; the behaviour of the breathing crack is simulated as a frictionless contact problem. The modification of the response with respect to the linear one is outlined: in particular, excitation of sub- and super-harmonics, period doubling, and quasi-impulsive behaviour at crack interfaces are the main achievements. These response characteristics, strictly due to the presence of a crack, can be used in non-linear techniques of crack identification.     

Effect of the contact-line dynamics on the natural oscillations of a cylindrical droplet

The natural oscillations of a cylindrical droplet of an inviscid liquid surrounded by a different liquid and bounded in the axial direction by solid planes are studied. The motion of the contact line is described using an effective boundary condition. The dependence of the frequency and damping ratio on the capillary parameter is found. It is shown that the fundamental frequency of the translation mode vanishes beginning from a certain value of the capillary parameter. Depending on the ratio of the radial and axial dimensions of the droplet, the fundamental frequency of the axisymmetric mode and modes higher than the translation mode can vanish in a certain range of the capillary parameter. This dependence of the natural oscillation frequencies on the problem parameters allows one to determine the capillary parameter. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 48, No. 5, pp. 78–86, September–October, 2007.     

Vertical dynamics of a pantograph carbon-strip suspension under stochastic contact-force excitation

In electric trains, a pantograph is mounted on the roof of the train to collect power through contact with an overhead catenary wire. The carbon-strip suspension of a pantograph, along which contact with the catenary occurs, is subjected to harmonic and stochastic contact-force excitations. In this paper, vertical dynamics of the carbon-strip suspension is studied with an aim of improving the reliability and safety of running trains. A single-degree-of-freedom model of the carbon-strip suspension with nonlinear stiffness is developed using parameter values of the DSA X pantograph. Through stochastic averaging, a Fokker–Planck–Kolmogorov equation governing the stationary response of the carbon-strip suspension is set up. Based on the transition probability density of the stationary response, it is found that random jumps and bifurcations in the carbon-strip motion can occur. The possibility of motion bifurcations and the frequency of random jumps warrant consideration in advanced design of carbon-strip suspensions.     

Turbocharger rotor dynamics with foundation excitation

To investigate the effect of foundation excitation on the dynamical behavior of a turbocharger, a dynamic model of a turbocharger rotor-bearing system is established which includes the engine’s foundation excitation and nonlinear lubricant force. The rotor vibration response of eccentricity is simulated by numerical calculation. The bifurcation and chaos behaviors of nonlinear rotor dynamics with various rotational speeds are studied. The results obtained by numerical simulation show that the differences of dynamic behavior between the turbocharger rotor systems with/without foundation excitation are obviously. With the foundation excitation, the dynamic behavior of rotor becomes more complicated, and develops into chaos state at a very low rotational speed.     

Numerical and experimental investigation on droplet dynamics and dispersion of a jet engine injector

In the case of turbine combustors operating with liquid fuel the combustion process is governed by the liquid fuel atomization and its dispersion in the combustion chamber. By highly unsteady flow field conditions the transient interaction between the liquid and the gaseous phase is of interest, because it results in a temporal variation of air–fuel ratio which leads to a fluctuating temperature distribution. The objective of this research was the investigation of transient flow field phenomena (e.g. large coherent structures) on droplet dynamics and dispersion of an isothermal flow (of inert water droplets) as a necessary first step towards a full analysis of spray combustion in real-life devices. The advanced injector system for lean jet engine combustors PERM (Partial Evaporated Rapid Mixing) was applied, generating a dilute polydispersed spray in a swirled flow field. Experiments were performed using Phase Doppler Anemometry (PDA) and a patternator to determine the droplet polydispersity, concentration maps, and velocity profiles in the flow. An important finding is the effect of large-scale coherent structures due mainly to the precessing of the vortex core (PVC) of the swirling air jet on the particle dispersion patterns. The experimental results then serve as reference data to assess the accuracy of the Eulerian–Lagrangian computations using a Large Eddy Simulation (LES), a Unsteady Reynolds-Average Navier–Stokes Simulation (URANS) and two simplified (steady-state) simulations. There, a simplified droplet injection model was used and the required boundary conditions of injected droplet sizes were obtained from measurements. Important transient effects of deterministic droplet separation observed during experiments, could be perfectly replicated with this injection model. It is convincingly shown, through extensive computations, that the resolution of instantaneous vortical structures is indeed crucial; hence the LES, or a reasonably-well resolved URANS are preferred over the steady-state solutions with additional, stochastic-type, turbulent dispersion models.     

Experimental study of the dynamics of magneto-rheological fluid droplet impact

The kinematics of a magneto-rheological fluid droplet impact on a smooth surface, subjected to external magnetic field, was studied theoretically and experimentally. A time-dependent one-dimensional model of the impact, as typified by the droplet top center point height kinematics is developed. A series of experiments were conducted in order to validate the theoretical model. The shape changes generated during the impact process were recorded using a digital high-speed camera. Our novel kinematical model based on a variable damping function shows very good agreement with the experimental data for a wide range of Mason and Reynolds numbers.     

Numerical study on the dynamics of droplet passing through a cylinder obstruction in confined microchannel flow

The droplet dynamics passing through a cylinder obstruction was investigated with direct numerical simulations with FE-FTM (Finite Element-Front Tracking Method). The effect of droplet size and capillary number (Ca) was studied for both Newtonian and viscoelastic fluids. In the case of Newtonian droplet immersed in Newtonian medium, the droplet breakup induced by the geometric hindrance depends on the droplet size. As Ca increases, the short droplets (1.3 times longer than the channel width) break up while passing through the obstruction. However, the breakup does not occur for longer droplets (1.8 times longer than the channel width). When the viscoelastic fluid characterized by the Oldroyd-B model is considered, the Newtonian droplet immersed in viscoelastic medium breaks up into two smaller droplets while passing through the cylinder obstruction with increasing De_m (Deborah number of the medium). We also show that the normal stress difference plays a key role on the droplet breakup and the droplet extension. The normal stress difference is enhanced in the negative wake region due to the droplet flow, which also promotes droplet extension in that region. This numerical study provides information not only on underlying physics of the droplet flows passing through a cylinder obstruction but also on the useful guidelines for microfluidic applications.     

Numerical investigation of droplet pre-dispersion in a monodisperse droplet spray dryer

Monodisperse droplet spray dryers have great advantages in particle formation through spray drying because of their ability to produce uniform sized particles. Experimental analyses of this system have shown that droplets atomized through the piezoceramic nozzle need to be sufficiently well dispersed before entering the drying chamber to achieve sufficiently dried particles. However, the dispersion dynamics cannot be readily observed because of experimental limitations, and key factors influencing the dispersion state currently remain unclear. This study carried out numerical simulations for droplet dispersions in the dispersion chamber, which allow this important process to be visualized. The systematic and quantitative analyses on the dispersion states provide valuable data for improving the design of the dispersion chamber, and optimizing the spray drying operation.     

The translation of a Newtonian droplet in a 4-constant Oldroyd fluid

The viscoelastic correction to the Hadamard—Rybczynski terminal velocity was calculated for the retarded motion translation of a finite viscosity Newtonian droplets in a 4-constant Oldroyd fluid. The droplet translational velocity can be enhanced or hindered relative to the Hadamard—Rybczinski value depending upon the degree of shear thinning, and elongational and memory effects in the viscoelastic fluid. Specifically, it is found that for a large droplet viscosity, for which surface mobility is negligible, shear thinning and fluid memory enhance translational motion. At the other extreme, when the droplet surface is very mobile (i.e. for gas bubbles) the translational velocity can be enhanced or hindered relative to the Hadamard—Rybczynski value depending on the relative influence of the memory and the elongational properties of the viscoelastic phase.     

Simultaneous droplet impingement dynamics and heat transfer on nano-structured surfaces

This study examines the hydrodynamics and temperature characteristics of distilled deionized water droplets impinging on smooth and nano-structured surfaces using high speed (HS) and infrared (IR) imaging at We = 23.6 and Re = 1593, both based on initial drop impingement parameters. Results for a smooth and nano-structured surface for a range of surface temperatures are compared. Droplet impact velocity, transient spreading diameter and dynamic contact angle are measured. The near surface average droplet fluid temperatures are evaluated for conditions of evaporative cooling and boiling. Also included are surface temperature results using a gold layered IR opaque surface on silicon. Four stages of the impingement process are identified: impact, boiling, near constant surface diameter evaporation, and final dry-out. For the boiling conditions there is initial nucleation followed by severe boiling, then near constant diameter evaporation resulting in shrinking of the droplet height. When a critical contact angle is reached during evaporation the droplet rapidly retracts to a smaller diameter reducing the contact area with the surface. This continues as a sequence of retractions until final dry out. The basic trends are the same for all surfaces, but the nano-structured surface has a lower dissipated energy during impact and enhances the heat transfer for evaporative cooling with a 20% shorter time to achieve final dry out.