Oblique evaporation waves

Evaporation waves are processes that may occur under certain conditions in which a metastable or superheated liquid undergoes a sudden phase transition in a narrow and observable region, which resembles a shock wave. It is inferred from photographic documentation that in certain liquid jet flashing regimes the phenomenon is present. The evaporation wave discontinuity has been successfully modeled in a similar way as a deflagration wave in a combusting gas. One-dimensional laboratory experiments have demonstrated the existence of the (lower) Chapman-Jouguet solution for the cases where the liquid were at a high degree of metastability. Subsonic solutions were also observed for less pronounced degree of metastability (Hill 1991, Sim oes-Moreira 1994). In this paper, the fundamental theory is briefly revised and compared with some of the experimental results obtained for the cases operating at the C-J condition. Next, the paper presents the extension of the one-dimensional theory to include the oblique evaporation wave geometry. Relationships between upstream and downstream flow properties are discussed ant further consequences of these relationships are analyzed. Received 12 October 1999 / Accepted 21 March 2000