Measurements of the contact angle between R134a and both aluminum and copper surfaces

Measurements of quasi-static advancing contact angles of refrigerant R134a on copper and aluminum surfaces are reported over a temperature range from 0 °C to 80 °C. The metal surfaces tested were aluminum (alloy 3003) and copper (alloy 101) plates. Measurements were done using a direct optical observation technique where the liquid meniscus at the surface of a vertical plate was captured using a high magnification camera system. The contact angle of solid–liquid interface was deduced by enhancing and manipulating the digital image using solid modeling software by drawing a tangent line to the meniscus at the intersection location of the solid, liquid and vapor. Values of the contact angle were found to vary between 8.3° and 5.6° for aluminum and between 5.1° and 6.5° for copper when the temperature rose from 0 °C to 80 °C. Maximum standard deviation amongst the measured values of contact angles was 1.3°.     

Experiments and analysis on the melting of a semitransparent material by radiation

The purpose of this study was to obtain an improved understanding of the physical processes which occur during the melting of a semitransparent material for the case where the melting is effected by irradiation of the material. An analytical model was developed for predicting radiative and thermal conditions, as well as the liquid/solid interface displacement, during the radiation induced phase-change process. Parametric calculations were performed to determine the extent of the influence of some fourteen identifiable dimensionless parameters on the temperature distribution and liquid/solid interface motion. Experimental simulations were conducted in the laboratory using a high intensity lamp to melt a phase-change material within a carefully controlled environment. Provisions were made for measurement of the temperature and the liquid-solid interface displacement. Comparison between the model predictions and the experimental data is shown to be in very good agreement.     

Thermocapillary migration of liquid droplets in a temperature gradient in a density matched system

An experimental investigation of thermocapillary flow in droplets of a vegetable oil (partially hydrogenated soybean oil) immersed in silicone oil was conducted in a test cell with a heated top wall and a cooled bottom wall. The liquids are nearly immiscible and have equal densities at a temperature below the room temperature, thus providing a simulation of low-gravity conditions by reducing the buoyancy forces. The interfacial tension between the two oils was measured in the temperature range 20–50°C using a capillary tube and d/dT was determined to be negative. Droplets ranging in sizes from 3 mm to 1 cm diameter were injected into the silicone oil. The vertical temperature profile in the bulk liquid (silicone oil) produces temperature variations along the interface which induce variations in the interfacial tension. The flow inside the droplet driven by the resulting interfacial shear stresses was observed using a laser light-sheet flow visualization technique. The flow direction is consistent with the sign of d/dT. The observed maximum surface velocities are compared to the theoretical predictions of Young et al. (1959).For short times after injection, the droplets were driven by this flow towards the hot wall above the matched-density temperature until the droplets reached a point where the forces due to the flow and buoyancy were equal. After longer times, the droplets moved to the cold side due to suspected density changes caused by mass transfer from the droplets to the silicone oil. This was confirmed by tests under isothermal conditions, where it was observed that droplets of all sizes fell to the cold bottom eventually.Thus, even though the thermocapillary flow inside the droplets persisted for long times in spite of the mass transfer, the migration of droplets towards the hot side was eventually affected by uncontrolled buoyancy forces resulting from density changes due to mass transfer. While additional liquids are being tried, it is suggested from the present experience that reduced gravity experiments will probably be necessary to provide unambiguous data for the migration of droplets.     

Hydrodynamics and boiling phenomena of water droplets impinging on hot solid

The collision of single water droplets with a hot Inconel 625 alloy surface was investigated by a two-directional flash photography technique using two digital still cameras and three flash units. The experiments were conducted under the following conditions: the pre-impact diameters of the droplets ranged from 0.53 to 0.60 mm, the impact velocities ranged from 1.7 m/s to 4.1 m/s, and the solid surface temperatures ranged from 170 °C to 500 °C. When a droplet impacted onto the solid at a temperature of 170 °C, weak boiling was observed at the liquid/solid interface. At temperatures of 200 or 300 °C, numerous vapor bubbles were formed. Numerous secondary droplets then jetted upward from the deforming droplet due to the blowout of the vapor bubbles into the atmosphere. No secondary droplets were observed for a surface temperature of 500 °C at the low-impact Weber numbers (∼30) associated with the impact inertia of the droplets. Experiments using 2.5-mm-diameter droplets were also conducted. The dimensionless collision behaviors of large and small droplets were compared under the same Weber number conditions. At temperatures of less than or equal to 300 °C, the blowout of vapor bubbles occurred at early stages for a large droplet. At a surface temperature of 500 °C, the two dimensionless deformation behaviors of the droplets were very similar to each other.     

Experimental study of water droplet boiling on hot, non-porous surfaces

In this paper, the results of a series of experimental tests on single- and multi-droplet boiling systems are presented and discussed. The main objectives of the present study are: a) to investigate experimentally the effect of the boiling onset on the evaporation rate of water droplets; b) to measure the evolution of the solid surface temperature during evaporation; c) to examine the possibility of improving spray cooling efficiencies. The behavior of small water droplets (from 10 to 50 μl) gently deposited on hot, non-porous surfaces is observed. The evaporation of multi-droplet arrays (50 and 100 μl) under the same conditions of the single-droplet tests is analyzed. In particular, the conditions which determine the onset of nucleate and film boiling are stressed out. In the experimental tests, the interaction of different materials with several multi-droplet systems is monitored by infrared thermography. The spray cooling efficiency is related to the solid temperature decrease as a function of the water mass flux. In the present study, the effect of varying the droplet volume and the mass flux is also analyzed and discussed. The results on the droplets evaporation time and on the solid surface transient temperature distribution are also compared with the data obtained by the same authors during the analysis of droplet evaporation in total absence of nucleate and film boiling. In order to analyze the different behavior of the evaporating droplet as a function of the solid surface thermal conductivity, evaporative transients on aluminum, stainless steel and macor (a glass-like, low-conductivity material) are considered. Received on 20 February 1998     

Interaction phenomena between liquid droplets and hot particles—Captured via high-speed camera

The interaction of evaporating droplets and hot catalyst particles plays a major role in heterogeneously catalysed reactions. The liquid feed is injected into a gas–solid flow and is mixed with the catalyst. The interaction phenomena determine the evaporation time which should be minimised to keep the reactor vessel small. First measurements with a bed of fixed hot FCC-particles (fluid catalytic cracking) and two model fluids have been conducted. The interactions of ethanol and water droplets with the hot bed surface were captured via a high-speed camera. While the ethanol droplet developed a stable steam cushion due to Leidenfrost phenomena, water showed intense interaction and steam explosions which induced repulsion and atomisation of the droplet.     

A numerical study on droplet-particle collision dynamics

The impact of liquid droplets onto spherical stationary solid particles under isothermal conditions is simulated. The CFD model solves the Navier-Stokes equations in three dimensions and employs the Volume of Fluid Method (VOF) coupled with an adaptive local grid refinement technique able to track the liquid-gas interface. A fast-marching algorithm suitable for the quick computation of distance functions required during the grid refinement in large 3-D computational domains is proposed. The numerical model is validated against experimental data for the case of a water droplet impact onto a spherical particle at low We number and room temperature conditions. Following that, a parametric study is undertaken examining (a) the effect of Weber number (= ρu²D_o/σ) in the range of 8 to 80 and (b) the droplet to particle size ratio ranging in-between 0.31 and 1.24, on the impact outcome. This has resulted to the identification of two distinct regimes that form during droplet-particle collisions: the partial/full rebound and the coating regimes; the latter results to the disintegration of secondary satellite droplets from elongated expanding liquid ligaments forming behind the particle. Additionally, the temporal evolution of variables of interest, such as the maximum dimensionless liquid film thickness and the average wetting coverage of the solid particle by the liquid, have been quantified. The present study assists the understanding of the physical processes governing the impact of liquids onto solid spherical surfaces occurring in industrial applications, including fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) reactors.     

用格子Boltzmann方法模拟液滴撞击固壁动力学行为

首次用格子Boltzmann方法中的伪势模型对液滴撞击固壁的动力学行为进行了数值模拟.详细研究了液滴在壁面上的流动状态以及各种因素对撞击过程的影响.通过数值模拟得到:壁面的可润湿性越小,液滴越容易发生反弹,液滴的回缩速度越快;液滴的撞击速度越大,所得到的相对直径越大,回缩速度越快;液滴的粘性越小,所得到的相对直径越大;液滴的表面张力越大,液滴越容易发生反弹现象.另外,液滴的最大相对直径与We数满足一定的线性关系,这些结果与前人的理论预测和实验结果完全吻合.     

Influence of calcium on cracking of steel during the welding or casting process

The influence of calcium on the brittle–ductile transition temperature is studied for the solidification range. The test bars were cast from carbon steel with and without the addition of calcium. Mechanical properties at different temperatures around the solidus were evaluated. The fractured surfaces were examined using a scanning microscope coupled with a Kevex analyser. For the modified steel, the liquid phase appears (on heating) for higher temperature while the temperature range within which fracture can nucleate, during casting or welding, is markedly narrowed. In medium-carbon steel, calcium changes the manner of fusion of the grains. The inclusions of the liquid phase form at the triple points and the surfaces of grains remain solid above the solidus temperature.     

Transport of salts and micron-sized particles entrained from a boiling water pool

The entrainment of soluble (KI, CsI) and non-soluble (Al₂O₃) substances through droplets, which are produced by disintegrating steam bubbles at the surface of a boiling water pool, is determined in a pilot-scale facility. Integral measurements are conducted at steady-state conditions in an atmosphere of either pure steam or an air–steam mixture. The ratio of the entrained liquid mass flow and the gas mass flow through the pool, the entrainment factor, is determined for air–steam ratios between 0 and 0.47 kg/kg in the gas atmosphere and at constant total pressures between 2 and 6 bar. The influence of the vertical temperature profile in the gas atmosphere on the convective velocity field is demonstrated by phase Doppler anemometry and particle image velocimetry measurements at a location 2.1 m above the pool surface. The influences of nucleation and natural convection are demonstrated during slow de-pressurization of the facility at rates below 420 Pa/s.     

基于SPH方法的湿润性固壁边界条件模拟研究

固体壁面由于表面特殊结构和材料属性,时常表现出对交界面上水体的吸附作用,而这一特征对微小水体作用尤为明显。本文提出了一种湿润性固壁边界条件的计算方法,即假设壁面粒子的亲水性以及毛细吸附作用统一表现为对支持域内流体粒子的吸附力。基于光滑粒子流体动力学（SPH）方法,模拟了静态液滴在不同湿润性壁面上的变形至稳定过程。模拟了液滴撞击疏水壁面的过程,将液滴的运动过程分为碰撞、铺展、回缩和回弹四个阶段,分析各阶段壁面受力分布情况。研究表明：根据模拟液滴静态接触角的变化特点,本文湿润性固壁边界条件可以较好的反映出壁面湿润性;液滴撞击输水表面的模拟数据与试验结果趋势上吻合良好;壁面压力波伴随着液滴的铺展和回缩传播并衰减;只有在回弹后期液滴即将脱离壁面时壁面拉力起主导作用,其余各时刻壁面均以压力为主。     

基于LS-DYNA的热成型钢断裂失效预测研究

固体壁面由于表面特殊结构和材料属性,时常表现出对交界面上水体的吸附作用,而这一特征对微小水体作用尤为明显。本文提出了一种湿润性固壁边界条件的计算方法,即假设壁面粒子的亲水性以及毛细吸附作用统一表现为对支持域内流体粒子的吸附力。基于光滑粒子流体动力学（SPH）方法,模拟了静态液滴在不同湿润性壁面上的变形至稳定过程。模拟了液滴撞击疏水壁面的过程,将液滴的运动过程分为碰撞、铺展、回缩和回弹四个阶段,分析各阶段壁面受力分布情况。研究表明：根据模拟液滴静态接触角的变化特点,本文湿润性固壁边界条件可以较好的反映出壁面湿润性;液滴撞击输水表面的模拟数据与试验结果趋势上吻合良好;壁面压力波伴随着液滴的铺展和回缩传播并衰减;只有在回弹后期液滴即将脱离壁面时壁面拉力起主导作用,其余各时刻壁面均以压力为主。     

Collision between high and low viscosity droplets: Direct Numerical Simulations and experiments

Binary droplet collisions are of importance in a variety of practical applications comprising dispersed two-phase flows. In the present work we focus on the collision of miscible droplets, where one droplet is composed of a high viscous liquid and the other one is of lower viscosity. This kind of collisions take place in, for instance, spray drying processes when droplets with different solid content collide in recirculation zones. The aim of this paper is to investigate the details of the flow inside the colliding droplets. For this purpose, two prototype cases are considered, namely the collision of equal sized droplets and the collision between a small and highly viscous droplet and a bigger low viscous droplet. A new experimental method has been developed in order to visualize the penetration and mixing process of two colliding droplets, where a fluorescence marker is added to one liquid and the droplets are excited by a laser. The results show a delay in the coalescence which takes place during the initial stage of a collision of droplets with different viscosities. Direct Numerical Simulations based on the Volume-of-Fluid method are used to study these collisions and to allow for a more detailed inspection of the mixing process. The method is extended to consider a second liquid with a different viscosity. In order to reproduce the delay of coalescence, an algorithm for the temporal suppression of the coalescence is applied. A predictive simulation of the delay is not possible, because the extremely thin air gap separating the droplets cannot be resolved by the numerics. This approach is validated by comparison with experimental data. The results provide local field data of the flow inside the collision complex, showing in particular a pressure jump at the liquid–liquid interface although no surface tension is present. The detailed analysis of the terms in the momentum balance show that the pressure jump results from the viscosity jump at the liquid–liquid interface.     

Influence of chemical composition on the hot tearing formation of cast steel

Hot tears initiate under stress and strain, when the solid crystals are partially separated by the liquid film. At this stage, the overall strength of the hot spot of the casting is very low. The tendency of alloys to hot tearing depends on the temperature range in which the cracks can initiate. It has been assumed, that process of the cracks formation starts at the temperature of grains interlocking. The change of the length and chemical composition of liquid film separating the grains during solidification have been studied, using the simulation model for the growth of equiaxed grains. Mechanical properties of samples of the different cast steels in the solidification range, have been tested to define the lowest temperature of the hot tearing. Thus, for each chemical composition of the tested steel the range of brittleness could be calculated. The fractured surfaces were examined using Kevex X-ray analyzer coupled with scanning microscope. It was found that the examined regions were, at least partly, covered by the liquid phase rich in sulfur.     

An icing physics study by using lifetime-based molecular tagging thermometry technique

An experimental investigation was conducted to quantify the unsteady heat transfer and phase changing process within small icing water droplets in order to elucidate underlying physics to improve our understanding of the important micro-physical process of icing phenomena. A novel, lifetime-based molecular tagging thermometry (MTT) technique was developed and implemented to achieve temporally-and-spatially resolved temperature distribution measurements to reveal the time evolution of the unsteady heat transfer and dynamic phase changing process within micro-sized water droplets in the course of icing process. It was found that, after a water droplet impinged onto a frozen cold surface, the liquid water at the bottom of the droplet would be frozen and turned to solid ice rapidly, while the upper portion of the droplet was still in liquid state. As the time goes by, the interface between the liquid phase water and solid phase ice was found to move upward continuously with more and more liquid water within the droplet turned to solid ice. Interestingly, the averaged temperature of the remaining liquid water within the small icing droplet was found to increase, rather than decrease, continuously in the course of icing process. The temperature increase of the remaining liquid water is believed to be due to the heat release of the latent heat during solidification process. The volume expansion of the water droplet during the icing process was found to be mainly upward to cause droplet height growth rather than radial to enlarge the contact area of the droplet on the test plate. As a result, the spherical-cap-shaped water droplet was found to turn to a prolate-spheroid-shaped ice crystal with cusp-like top at the end of the icing process. The required freezing time for the water droplets to turn to ice crystals completely was found to depend on the surface temperature of the test plate strongly, which would decrease exponentially as the surface temperature of the frozen cold test plate decreases.     

Temperature sensing with thermochromic liquid crystals

A review of the most recent developments in the application of thermochromic liquid crystals to fluid flow temperature measurement is presented. The experimental aspects including application, illumination, recording, and calibration of liquid crystals on solid surfaces, as well as in fluid suspensions, are discussed. Because of the anisotropic optical properties of liquid crystals, on-axis lighting/viewing arrangements, combined with in-situ calibration techniques, generally provide the most accurate temperature assessments. However, where on-axis viewing is not possible, calibration techniques can be employed, which reduce the uncertainty associated with off-axis viewing and lighting arrangements. It has been determined that the use of hue definitions that display a linear trend across the color spectrum yield the most accurate correlation with temperature. The uncertainty of both wide-band and narrow-band thermochromic liquid crystal calibration techniques can be increased due to hysteresis effects, which occur when the temperature of the liquid crystals exceeds their maximum activation temperature. Although liquid crystals are commonly used to provide time-mean temperature measurements, techniques are available which allow the monitoring of temporal changes. Selected examples illustrating the use of thermochromic liquid crystals are shown, and a survey of reported temperature measurement uncertainties is presented. Received: 3 February 1999/Accepted: 30 March 2000     

Evaporation of thin liquid droplets on heated surfaces

We carry out combined experimental and theoretical studies of liquid droplet evaporation on heated surfaces in a closed container filled with saturated vapor. The droplets are deposited on an electrically heated thin stainless steel foil. The evolution of droplet shapes is studied by optical methods simultaneously with high-resolution foil temperature measurements using thermochromic liquid crystals. A mathematical model is developed based on the assumptions that the droplet surface has uniform mean curvature and the contact line is pinned during evaporation. Both the dynamics of liquid–vapor interface and the temperature profiles at the foil are shown to be in good agreement with the experimental data.