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.     

Investigation of secondary droplet characteristics produced by an isooctane drop chain impact onto a heated piston surface

The physics of the impingement process of small hydrocarbon droplets is mostly unknown due to the difficulties of obtaining experimental data. In this publication, the impingement of small isooctane droplets on a hot piston surface is studied. The emphasis was put on the image-based investigation of the process of successive impingements and its influence on secondary droplet formation. The diameter and velocity of the secondary droplets were found to depend on the wall temperature and impingement frequency. Thus, the temporal interaction has a significant influence on the secondary droplet characteristics.     

On the dynamic behavior of a liquid droplet impacting upon an inclined heated surface

The dynamic behavior of a water droplet impinging upon a heated surface was shown to be significantly different, depending on the normal momentum of the impinging droplet before impact. This experimental study focused mainly on the effects of the impinging angle of the droplet on impact dynamics and its dependence on surface temperature. At the surface temperature of the nucleate boiling regime, disintegration of the droplet did not occur, whereas the deforming droplet adhered to the surface. The liquid film was spread and contracted several times on the horizontal surface, but the expanded droplet merely slipped without noticeable contraction on the inclined surfaces. In the film boiling regime, the impinging droplet spread over the surface as a liquid film separated from the surface by the vapor produced. Depending on the magnitude of the normal momentum of droplet, disintegration into several irregular shapes of liquid elements occurred in the case of the horizontal and 30°-inclined surfaces. The impinging droplet in the case of the 60°-inclined surface did not break up and tended to recover its original spherical shape. Received: 16 February 1999/Accepted: 9 November 1999     

Computational study of bouncing and non-bouncing droplets impacting on superhydrophobic surfaces

We numerically investigate bouncing and non-bouncing of droplets during isothermal impact on superhydrophobic surfaces. An in-house, experimentally validated, finite element method-based computational model is employed to simulate the droplet impact dynamics and transient fluid flow within the droplet. The liquid–gas interface is tracked accurately in Lagrangian framework with dynamic wetting boundary condition at three-phase contact line. The interplay of kinetic, surface and gravitational energies is investigated via systematic variation of impact velocity and equilibrium contact angle. The numerical simulations demonstrate that the droplet bounces off the surface if the total droplet energy at the instance of maximum recoiling exceeds the initial surface and gravitational energy, otherwise not. The non-bouncing droplet is characterized by the oscillations on the free surface due to competition between the kinetic and surface energy. The droplet dimensions and shapes obtained at different times by the simulations are compared with the respective measurements available in the literature. Comparisons show good agreement of numerical data with measurements, and the computational model is able to reconstruct the bouncing and non-bouncing of the droplet as seen in the measurements. The simulated internal flow helps to understand the impact dynamics as well as the interplay of the associated energies during the bouncing and non-bouncing. A regime map is proposed to predict the bouncing and non-bouncing on a superhydrophobic surface with an equilibrium contact angle of 155°, using data of 86 simulations and the measurements available in the literature. We discuss the validity of the computational model for the wetting transition from Cassie to Wenzel state on micro- and nanostructured superhydrophobic surfaces. We demonstrate that the numerical simulation can serve as an important tool to quantify the internal flow, if the simulated droplet shapes match the respective measurements utilizing high-speed photography.     

Energy balance of droplets impinging onto a wall heated above the Leidenfrost temperature

This work is an experimental study aiming at characterizing the heat transfers induced by the impingement of water droplets (diameter 80–180 μm) on a thin nickel plate heated by electromagnetic induction. The temperature of the rear face of the nickel sample is measured by means of an infrared camera and the heat removed from the wall due to the presence of the droplets is estimated using a semi-analytical inverse heat conduction model. In parallel, the temperature of the droplets is measured using the two-color Laser-Induced Fluorescence thermometry (2cLIF) which has been extended to imagery for the purpose of these experiments. The measurements of the variation in the droplet temperature occurring during an impact allow determining the sensible heat removed by the liquid. Measurements are performed at wall conditions well above the Leidenfrost temperature. Different values of the Weber numbers corresponding to the bouncing and splashing regimes are tested. Comparisons between the heat flux removed from the wall and the sensible heat gained by the liquid allows estimating the heat flux related to liquid evaporation. Results reveal that the respective level of the droplet sensible heat and the heat lost due to liquid vaporization can vary significantly with the droplet sizes and the Weber number.     

Three-dimensional simulation of two viscoelastic droplets impacting onto a rigid plate using smoothed particle hydrodynamics

In this article, a smoothed particle hydrodynamics method is developed to simulate the dynamic process of the impact of two viscoelastic droplets onto a rigid plate. The Oldroyd-B fluid is considered as the rheological model to describe the viscoelastic characteristics. An artificial stress is added into the momentum equation to remove the tensile instability. The solution of the problem of two successive impacts of droplets are demonstrated to be in good agreement with the literature data. The problem of two droplets impacting simultaneously onto a rigid plate is investigated.     

Numerical analysis of secondary droplets characteristics due to drop impacting on 3D cylinders considering dynamic contact angle

This study is investigating three-dimensional numerical simulation of a Newtonian droplet impact and break on two square cylinders based on dynamic contact angle of droplet at the spatial interface between two solid–fluid phases. The droplet impact details and morphology studied in the present work could provide ideas for the spray wall impingement modeling in the simulation of many industrial applications, such as spray painting and liquid cooling of surfaces. The droplet impact is investigated on two square cylinders in 9 different modes with different droplet diameters and physical conditions such as different positions of droplet. The volume of fluid (VOF) method was used with open-source software. The results have been compared and validated quantitatively and qualitatively with the experimental results. Results represent droplet diameter into cylinder dimension and velocity profiles are affected on number of broken droplets, break times and droplet deformation. Also, mean velocities of droplet after impact on two square cylinders at first break time were 0, 0.025, 0.12, 0.47, 0.11, 0.08, 0.2, 0.012, 0.19 m/s for cases 1–9, respectively. Moreover, in case 7 that droplet diameter into cylinder dimension was 2, the maximum number of break-up into secondary droplets was 10 drops that occurred for 4 times.

     

The combined influence of a rough surface and thin fluid film upon the splashing threshold and splash dynamics of a droplet impacting onto them

Surface roughness can have a critical effect upon the splashing threshold and dynamics of a drop impacting on either a dry or rough solid surface or one coated by a thin fluid film. As most coating applications and spray systems quickly evolve to a state where the droplets impinge upon fluid deposited by preceding droplets, the combined contributions of surface roughness and a pre-deposited thin liquid film of comparable thickness upon droplet impingement dynamics are examined. For comparison, we include results for droplets impacting on a smooth, dry surface and a smooth surface wetted by a thin fluid film. The inclusion of surface roughness considerably lowers the splashing threshold and alters the splashing dynamics such that differences in fluid surface tensions between 20.1 and 72.8 dynes/cm or viscosities between 0.4 and 3.3 cP have little effect.     

Atomization of liquid droplets on surfaces exposed to moving shock waves

Many engineering applications involve the stripping of liquid droplets from surfaces, one example being the entrainment of surface fuel from the inlet valves, ports, cylinder walls and piston crowns of internal combustion engines during the induction process. This configuration is likely to exhibit differences from the more commonly studied case of suspended droplets. In order to study the atomization of liquids from surfaces, shock waves at low Mach numbers (M = 1.05 and 1.12) have been used in the present work to initiate the flow over water droplets with visualization obtained from shadowgraph photographs, high-intensity flash photography and a CCD camera. Visualization paths both normal and angled at ±45° to the flow were used in order to obtain improved examination of the atomization details. Surface wave formation and a specific pattern of droplet distortion followed by stripping, was observed. There are similarities in the processes to those of suspended droplets that are modified by the boundary layer effects. At the Weber numbers considered, a cave-like formation occurs near the wall due to surface flow around the droplet with a major liquid flow directed tangentially across the air flow towards the cave peak where bag or chaotic type break-up and stripping takes place.     

液滴撞击超疏水壁面反弹及破碎行为研究

液滴撞击壁面时,壁面亲水性对液滴撞击壁面后的变化历程具有重要的影响。利用相界面追踪的复合Level Set-VOF方法对液滴撞击超疏水壁面的运动进行了研究。研究结果表明,撞击速度较小时,液滴撞壁后发生反弹;撞击速度较大时,液滴撞壁后会发生破碎现象;初始粒径的增大和表面张力的减小,有利于液滴撞壁后产生铺展破碎现象;撞击角度对撞壁后的液滴行为具有较大的影响。通过数值模拟,给出了一定条件下液滴垂直及倾斜撞击超疏水壁面反弹及破碎的临界条件。     

On the fall of a droplet onto the free surface of another fluid

The problem of the fall of a fluid droplet onto the free surface of another fluid filling a cuvette with the bottom inclined to the horizon is experimentally solved.     

Developing empirical relationships to predict grain size and hardness of the weld nugget of friction stir welded AA7075-T6 aluminium alloy joints

Experimental Techniques - High-strength, precipitation-hardening AA7075-T6 alloy is used extensively in aircraft primary structures. Friction stir welding process is an emerging solid state joining...     

Modeling the evolution of droplet size distribution in two-phase flows

A theoretical model is developed in the present study to simulate droplet motion and the evolution of droplet size distribution (DSD) in two-phase air/dispersed water spray flows. The model takes into account several processes which influence DSD and droplet trajectory: droplet collision and coalescence, evaporation and cooling, gravitational settling, and turbulent dispersion of dispersed phase. The DSDs determined by the model at different locations in a two-phase flow are evaluated by comparing them to experimental observations obtained in an icing wind tunnel. The satisfactory coincidence between simulation and experimental results proves that the model is reliable when modeling two-phase flows under icing conditions. The model is applied for two particular examples in which the modification of DSD is calculated in two-phase flows under conditions describing in-cloud icing and freezing drizzle.     

A numerical investigation of droplet impact on a heated wall in the film boiling regime

In this research, a novel approach is proposed to simulate the impingement of a water droplet on a superheated wall by solving conservation equations of mass, momentum and energy. Due to high temperature of the surface, a vapor layer is formed between droplet and surface. The vapor layer is captured using a very fine mesh near the surface. The level set method is applied for interface tracking and appropriate jump conditions are imposed at the interface by the ghost fluid method. The proposed algorithm is validated by comparing numerical results to the available experimental and analytical solutions. The effect of impact velocity, surfactant and polymer additives on the heat removal is studied. Simulations show that an increase in impact velocity enhances the heat removal. On the other hand, polymer additive has no significant effect while surfactant enhances dissipated heat by increasing the contact time or even by sticking the droplet on the surface.     

Elements of particle deposition onto nonporous solid surfaces parallel to suspension flows

The available information on particle deposition from suspensions flowing parallel to nonporous smooth and rough surfaces is summarized in terms of particle transport to, attachment at, and reentrainment from the surface. Operation under both isothermal and nonisothermal conditions is considered, and explanations are provided for declining rates of net deposition with time. Particle attachment, commonly accounted for by an elusive sticking probability, is treated alternatively as a rate process in series with particle transport. The Kern-Seaton equation for falling rate asymptotic fouling, commonly interpreted as a model inich gross particle deposition is undermined by particle reentrainment at a rate proportional to the mass of deposit accumulated at any given time, is given alternative possible interpretations by involving autoretardation of deposition in lieu of, or in addition to, reentrainment. Problems meriting further investigation are identified, implicitly or explicitly.     

Three-dimensional numerical analysis of the deformation behavior of droplets impinging onto a solid substrate

The collision dynamics of water droplets impacting onto a solid is studied by means of three-dimensional computer simulations. The Navier–Stokes equations for unsteady, incompressible, viscous fluids in the three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system are approximated and solved by a finite difference method. The volume-of-fluid (VOF) technique is used to track the free liquid surface. Normal and oblique collisions of droplets with the substrate are simulated at low droplet impact inertia. The effect of impact angle on the deformation behavior of droplets is investigated. The experimental observations and the numerical results are in reasonable agreement. Theoretical aspects of the physics of the collision phenomena are addressed.     

On the impact of viscous drops onto dry smooth surfaces

An experimental study of the impact of glycerol/water drops onto a dry glass surface at Reynolds and Weber numbers around the splashing/deposition threshold is presented. Some new observed phenomena that may shed further light on the mechanisms underlying air bubble entrainment and splashing for high-viscosity liquids are presented and discussed. The experiments were recorded with a high-speed camera using two complementary lighting setups that enhance the visualization of different features of the air entrainment phenomena: backlighting with a light diffuser and oblique lighting without diffuser. Besides the ring of micro-bubbles surrounding the central entrapped bubble and the cloud of bubbles entrained as a result of the interaction between a levitated thin film and the solid surface, which have been studied by other authors in previous works, a second ring of micro-bubbles that delimits the outer cloud of bubbles has been detected in our investigation. Attention is mainly focused on analyzing the dependency of the behavior of the two rings of micro-bubbles on the drop impact velocity, the ranges of the relevant dimensionless numbers in which the rings are formed and the existence, in certain impact conditions, of an abrupt increase in the size of the second ring, which substantially modifies the impact outcome.     

Numerical methods for the simulation of a coalescence-driven droplet size distribution

The droplet size distribution in a turbulent flow field is considered and modeled by means of a population balance system. This paper studies different numerical methods for the 4D population balance equation and their impact on an output of interest, the time-space-averaged droplet size distribution at the outlet, which is known from experiments. These methods include different interpolations of the experimental data at the inlet, various discretizations in time and space, and different schemes for computing the coalescence integrals. It will be shown that noticeable changes in the output of interest might occur. In addition, the computational efficiency of the studied methods is discussed.     

High-throughput generation of uniform droplets from parallel microchannel droplet generators and the preparation of polystyrene microsphere material

To prepare uniform polystyrene particles with ten microns of diameter, a parallel scaling-up strategy for the capillary-assembled stepwise microchannel was developed, which created uniform droplets with high-throughput and formed a large amount of emulsion templates for the polymerization of styrene and cross-linker. The microchannel droplet generator was robust for the flow rate deviation of the continuous phase in the jetting flow, and droplet generation frequency up to 2.8 × 10⁴ Hz was achieved with only four parallel droplet generators, which were much more efficient than the parallelly scaled microfluidic devices working in dripping flow. 32–52 μm average diameter droplets with 4.5%–8.4% diameter variation coefficients were successfully prepared from the microchannel device fabricated by low-cost 3D-print method, and the droplets were subsequently turned to solid particles via a two-step polymerization in the platform. The polystyrene particles were further reduced to 16.9–23.5 μm with 5.0%–8.6% diameter variation coefficients due to the accompanying emulsion polymerization, and the working capacity of the platform reached hundred milligrams of particles per hour.