Lateral vibration of a water drop and its motion on a vibrating surface

The resonant modes of sessile water drops on a hydrophobic substrate subjected to a small-amplitude lateral vibration are investigated using computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling. As the substrate is vibrated laterally, its momentum diffuses within the Stokes layer of the drop. Above the Stokes layer, the competition between the inertial and Laplace forces causes the formation of capillary waves on the surface of the drop. In the first part of this paper, the resonant states of water drops are illustrated by investigating the velocity profile and the hydrostatic force using a 3d simulation of the Navier-Stokes equation. The simulation also allows an estimation of the contact angle variation on both sides of the drop. In the second part of the paper, we investigate the effect of vibration on a water drop in contact with a vertical plate. Here, as the plate vibrates parallel to gravity, the contact line oscillates. Each oscillation is, however, rectified by hysteresis, thus inducing a ratcheting motion to the water droplet vertically downward. Maximum rectification occurs at the resonant states of the drop. A comparison between the frequency-dependent motion of these drops and the variation of contact angles on their both sides is made. The paper ends with a discussion on the movements of the drops on a horizontal hydrophobic surface subjected to an asymmetric vibration.     

Silicon nanowire and polyethylene superhydrophobic surfaces for discrete magnetic microfluidics

A microfluidic method to manipulate small drops of water is studied on two different superhydrophobic surfaces. Using this digital magnetofluidic method, water drops containing paramagnetic carbonyl-iron microparticles were displaced on silicon nanowire (Si NW) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) superhydrophobic surfaces using magnetic fields. Horizontal, vertical, or upside-down drop movement is made possible by the action of capillary forces induced by paramagnetic particles aligning and following a magnetic field, indicating that three-dimensional digital microfluidics is possible. Also, both Si NW and LDPE superhydrophobic surfaces combine surface chemistry with nano and microscale surface roughness to make drop movement possible. Si NW superhydrophobic surfaces were prepared using vapor-liquid-solid growth systems followed by coating with a perfluorinated hydrocarbon. LDPE superhydrophobic surfaces were prepared by growing polyethylene crystals on a polyethylene substrate through careful rate control.     

Mechanism of Current Oscillations in Gallium ArsenidePhotoconductive Semiconductor Switches

Semi-insulating photoconductive semiconductor switch with an electrode gap of 4 mm, triggered by a laser pulse with energy of 0.5md, and applied bias of 2.5kV, the periodicity current oscillation with a cycle of 12ns is obtained. It is indicated that the current oscillation is one mode of transferred electron effect, namely quenched domain mode. This mode of trans-electron oscillator is obtained when the instantaneous bias electric field drops below the sustaining field （the minimum electric field required to support the domain） before the domain reaches the anode, which leads to the domain disappears somewhere in the bulk of the switch and away from the ohmic contacts. We mainly analyse the time-dependent characteristic of the mode, the theoretical analysis results are in excellent agreement with the experiment.     

Non-Axisymmetric Oscillation of Acoustically Levitated Water Drops at Specific Frequencies

A category of non-axisymmetric oscillations of acoustically levitated water drops was observed. These oscillations can be qualitatively described by superposing a sectorial oscillating term upon the initial oblate shape resulting from the effect of acoustic radiation pressure. The oscillation frequencies are around 25 Hz for the 2-lobed mode and exactly 50 Hz for the 3- and 4-1obed modes. These oscillations were excited by the disturbance from the power supply. For the same water drop, higher mode oscillations were observed with more oblate initial shape, indicating that the eigenfrequencies of these non-axisymmetric oscillations decrease with increasing initial distortion. The maximum velocity and acceleration within the oscillating drop can attain 0.3 m·s^-1 and 98.7 m·s^-2 respectively, resulting in strong fluid convection and enhanced heat and mass transfer.     

Transport Behaviour of La0.8Sr0.2AlO3 Thin Film on Oxygen Deficient SrTiO3 Substrate

La_0.8Sr_0.2AlO₃ (LSAO) thin films are grown on SrTiO₃ (STO) and MgO substrates by laser molecular beam epitaxy. The LSAO thin film on oxygen deficient STO substrate exhibits metallic behaviour over the temperature range of 80--340K. The optical transmittance spectrum indicates that theLSAO thin films on MgO substrate are insulating at room temperature. The transport properties of LSAO thin films on STO substrates deposited in different oxygen pressure are compared. Our results indicate that oxygen vacancies in STO substrates should be mainly responsible for the transport behaviour of LSAO thin films.     

Numerical and experimental studies on the effects of stage risers

The acoustic effects of stage risers, especially on the sound of lower string instruments, are numerically and experimentally analyzed. To discuss the effects of the vibration of riser’s boards due to the mechanical force from an instrument, a structural-acoustical coupling approach is applied based on the mode expansion and the boundary element technique. Measurement results of the mechanical force from real instruments are used in the numerical study. The vibration of the top board of a riser affects the sound field only around the natural frequencies of the board and the cavity of the riser. In contrast, the acoustic diffraction due to the riser affects the sound field in a wide frequency range. The riser’s sideboard that faces to receiving points increases the sound pressure levels because it reflects waves diffracted at the riser’s edge to the front. To verify the numerical results, the effects of acoustic diffraction due to risers are especially investigated in detail through a scale model experiment.     

A mesoscopic model for (de)wetting

We present a mesoscopic model for simulating the dynamics of a non-volatile liquid on a solid substrate. The wetting properties of the solid can be tuned from complete wetting to total non-wetting. This model opens the way to study the dynamics of drops and liquid thin films at mesoscopic length scales of the order of the nanometer. As particular applications, we analyze the kinetics of spreading of a liquid drop wetting a solid substrate and the dewetting of a liquid film on a hydrophobic substrate. In all these cases, very good agreement is found between simulations and theoretical predictions.     

Nonlinear oscillations of a charged drop accelerated in an electrostatic field

An analytical asymptotic solution to the problem of nonlinear oscillations of a charged drop moving with acceleration through a vacuum in a uniform electrostatic field is found. The solution is based on a quadratic approximation in two small parameters: the eccentricity of the equilibrium spheroidal shape of the drop and the amplitude of the initial deformation of the equilibrium shape. In the calculations carried out in an inertial frame of reference with the origin at the center of mass of the drop, expansions in fractional powers of the small parameter are used. Corrections to the vibration frequencies are always negative and appear even in the second order of smallness. They depend on the stationary deformation of the drop in the electric field and nonlinearly reduce the surface charge critical for development of the drops’s instability. It is found that the evolutions of the shapes of nonlinearly vibrating unlike-charged drops differ slightly owing to inertial forces.     

Motion of a drop driven by substrate vibrations

We report an experimental study of liquid drops moving against gravity, when placed on a vertically vibrating inclined plate, which is partially wet by the drop. Frequency of vibrations ranges from 30 to 200 Hz, and above a threshold in vibration acceleration, drops experience an upward motion. We attribute this surprising motion to the deformations of the drop, as a consequence of an up/down symmetry-breaking induced by the presence of the substrate. We relate the direction of motion to contact angle measurements.     

Vibration-induced climbing of drops

We report an experimental study of liquid drops moving against gravity, when placed on a vertically vibrating inclined plate, which is partially wetted by the drop. The frequency of vibrations ranges from 30 to 200 Hz, and, above a threshold in vibration acceleration, drops experience an upward motion. We attribute this surprising motion to the deformations of the drop, as a consequence of an up or down symmetry breaking induced by the presence of the substrate. We relate the direction of motion to contact angle measurements. This phenomenon can be used to move a drop along an arbitrary path in a plane, without special surface treatments or localized forcing.     

Bond数变化对固壁液滴接触角的影响

本文利用微重力落塔实验研究了Bond数改变时,PTFE和铝板表面上正滴和倒滴接触角的动态变化。实验发现液滴接触角与Bond数的大小有关,当Bond数趋于0时,还与其放置状态有关。本文采用VOF方法对Bond数变化引起的液滴形状及内部流动变化进行二维数值模拟,结果显示液滴内部的流动控制着液滴的外形和接触角。     

Optimizating the seats surrounding the platform in a recital hall when considering source directivity

The influence of source directivity can be significant for solo and chamber music performances, particularly for arena type halls that have improved visual intimacy for the audience. Computer simulation was performed to analyze the possibility of optimizing the acoustical qualities of a 4000-m³ recital hall with a significant portion of seats surrounding the platform when considering source directivity. The effects of surface treatments, length-to-width proportion, seating arrangement and platform location were evaluated. Most acoustical parameters derived from a baritone singer source were categorized as one factor that can be best represented by 2-kHz band early sound strength G_E. Regardless of room proportion, front-back 2-kHz band energy difference derived from optimized models can be controlled within 4 dB, a value much smaller than the difference in direct component.     

Effect of TiO2 Nanotubes on Polymer-Fullerene Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells

We investigate the photovoltaic properties of hybrid organ/c solar cell based on the blend of poly[2-methoxy-5-（2- ethylhexoxy-l,4-phenylenevinylene） （MEH-PPV）, C60 and titanium dioxide （TiO2） nanotubes. In comparison of the composite devices with different TiO2：[MEH-PPV ＋C60] weight ratios of lw$.% （D1-1）, 2wt.% （D1-2）, 3wt.% （D1-3）, 5wt.% （D1-4）, 10wt.% （D1-5） and 20wt.% （D1-6）, it is found that the device Dl-a exhibits the best performance. The conversion efficiency is improved by a factor of 3 compared with the MEH-PPV：C60 device.     

Accelerated beam tracing algorithm

Determining early specular reflection paths is essential for room acoustics modeling. Beam tracing algorithms have been used to calculate these paths efficiently, thus allowing modeling of acoustics in real-time with a moving listener in simple, or complex but densely occluded, environments with a stationary sound source. In this paper, it is shown that beam tracing algorithms can still be optimized by utilizing the spatial coherence in path validation with a moving listener. Since the precalculations required for the presented technique are relatively fast, the acoustic reflection paths can be calculated even for a moving source in simple cases. Simulations were performed to show how the accelerated algorithm compares with the basic algorithm with varying scene complexity and occlusion. Up to two-orders of magnitude speed-up was achieved.     

LASING FROM A DYE-DOPED PENDANT DROP AND ITS PRECESSION

We have observed lasing from the rim of dye-doped ethylene glycol pendant drops. Spatial-resolved spectral measurements show that the lasing wavelength varies along a vertical rim of the drop. Time-resolved measurements indicate that lasing precession occurs within the drop. Various lasing patterns due to lasing precession are explained. The measured precession periods for different pumping points are in good agreement with the calculated values based on morphology-dependent resonance theory.     

碰撞聚合引起液滴数目变化的生灭过程模型

液滴碰撞聚合是气体/液滴两相流动中的重要现象.为研究碰撞聚合引起的液滴数目变化,考虑液相仅包含大小两类尺寸液滴的情形,计算不同尺寸的两个液滴间的碰撞概率,对固定观察区域内液滴的碰撞聚合、迁入及迁出因素作随机分析,建立描述液滴数目变化的生灭过程模型.由无条件概率模型方程,得出模型方程的相应平稳分布.以雨滴下落过程的质量增长为例,说明所得分布在气体液滴两相流动中的应用.     

Fabrication of a Mono-Domain Alignment Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Device Using a Polar Self-Assembled Monolayer

A mono-domain ferroelectric liquid crystal device (FLCD) is fabricated using a novel method. The cell used in this method is an asymmetric cell, typically the combination of a polar self-assembled monolayer (SAM) for one substrate and a rubbed polyimide for the other substrate. A defect-free alignment of ferroelectric liquid crystal is fabricated without applying a dc voltage to remove degeneracy in the layer structure. The contact angles of self-assembled monolayer and PI-2942 are measured and the polarity of SAM is higher than the PI alignment. It is found that the polarity of self-assembled monolayer is a key factor in the formation of mono-domain alignment of FLC.     

Dynamics and stability of volume-scavenging drop arrays: Coarsening by capillarity

N drops, pinned by circular contact lines, are arranged in an array and coupled by a network of conduits. Inertialess exchange of volume among drops is driven by capillarity through the minimization of total surface energy. Drops scavenge volume from one another based on pressure differences, proportional to the surface tension, and arising from curvature differences. The system coarsens in the sense that, with time, volume is increasingly localized and ends up in a single ‘winner’ drop. Numerical simulations show that the identity of the winner can depend discontinuously on the initial condition and connectivity network. This motivates a study of the corresponding N-dimensional nonlinear dynamical system. All fixed points and their linear stabilities, obtained analytically, are found to be independent of connectivity. To determine which of the stable fixed points will be the winner, manifolds separating the attracting regions are found using a method which combines local information (eigenvectors at fixed points) with global information (invariant manifolds due to symmetry). This method is demonstrated for three N=3 systems with various connectivity networks, and is used to explain the numerical observations.     

Effect of Rolling Massage on Particle Moving Behaviour in Blood Vessels

The rolling massage manipulation is a classic Chinese massage, which is expected to eliminate many diseases. Here the effect of the rolling massage on the particle moving property in the blood vessels under the rolling massage manipulation is studied by the lattice Boltzmann simulation. The simulation results show that the particle moving behaviour depends on the rolling velocity, the distance between particle position and rolling position. The average values, including particle translational velocity and angular velocity, increase as the rolling velocity increases almost linearly. The result is helpful to understand the mechanism of the massage and develop the rolling techniques.     

Self-concentration and large-scale coherence in bacterial dynamics

Suspensions of aerobic bacteria often develop flows from the interplay of chemotaxis and buoyancy. We find in sessile drops that flows related to those in the Boycott effect of sedimentation carry bioconvective plumes down the slanted meniscus and concentrate cells at the drop edge, while in pendant drops such self-concentration occurs at the bottom. On scales much larger than a cell, concentrated regions in both geometries exhibit transient, reconstituting, high-speed jets straddled by vortex streets. A mechanism for large-scale coherence is proposed based on hydrodynamic interactions between swimming cells.