Search

Droplet manipulation under various physical fields is crucial for microfluidics. Theoretical models are key to understand the physics. In this work, by extending the binary phase lattice Boltzmann model to fully coupled thermodynamics and electrostatics, we systematically explore the behaviors of droplet transport driven by temperature-dependent surface tension, thermocapillary, and electrowetting effects. It is shown that electrowetting enables bidirectional transport of the droplet, determined by various physical parameters such as electric voltage, wettability, viscosity, thermal conductivity, and surface tension. Specifically, the physics revealed in this work is more than simply electrowetting modified wettability. Actually, the droplet transport is controlled further by contact angle hysteresis and thermocapillary-induced temperature gradient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the velocity distribution and atomization characteristics of gas–liquid swirl coaxial (GLSC) injectors, atomization experiments and simulations were conducted under atmospheric conditions. The velocity distribution and morphology of the spray from GLSC injectors at varying gas–liquid ratios were measured using particle image velocimetry. The gas–liquid interaction, breakup dynamics, and the velocity of liquid sheet were simulated based on the three-dimensional volume of fluid to discrete particle model (VOF-to-DPM) and octree adaptive mesh refinement. Additionally, a method for extracting droplet diameters from high-quality images has been developed and validated. The results indicate that the sprays maintain a stable cone when the gas–liquid ratio is low. As the gas–liquid ratio increases, particularly at larger recess ratios, self-pulsation phenomena occur. During self-pulsation, the spray cone angle is enlarged, and the breakup length shortens. In a stable spray field, the center exhibits a low velocity region (5–10 m/s), while the spray periphery shows a high velocity region (20–25 m/s). Self-pulsation is induced by the "Klystron effect," which arises from the Kelvin–Helmholtz (K–H) instability at the gas–liquid interface. The center of the self-pulsated spray transitions to a high velocity region due to the accelerated droplet motion driven by the annular gas flow through the spray's center. The radial distribution of mean droplet diameters for both stable and self-pulsated sprays has been summarized. As the gas–liquid ratios and recess ratios increase, the global droplet diameters gradually decrease, with a 75% of droplet diameters falling between 0 and 0.1 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The penetration and evaporation characteristics of a liquid kerosene jet in the supersonic crossflow were experimentally investigated in this study. The experiments were carried out in both cold and high-enthalpy inflows. Detailed spray images were obtained using planar laser scattering techniques. The structures of the spray field were further analyzed on the basis of high spatial and temporal resolution images. The results show that the atomization and evaporation characteristics of a liquid kerosene jet are related to the crossflow temperature, liquid–gas momentum flux ratio, and injection distance. It is found that the breakup process of a liquid jet is accelerated in the high-enthalpy inflow. To accurately describe the maximum flow distance along the direction that kerosene can reach in the state of droplets, the survival distance is defined. It is revealed that the penetration depth and survival distance of the liquid kerosene jet decrease clearly with increase in the crossflow temperature. For the cavity-based combustor, the liquid kerosene jet can mix more sufficiently in the cavity region by reducing the injection distance and liquid–gas momentum flux ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]