Effect of solidification on drop fragmentation in liquid-liquid media

This paper presents results of experimental and analytical investigation on molten alloy drop fragmentation in water pool. Emphasis is directed towards delineating the roles which melt to coolant heat transfer and melt solidification play in the fragmentation process. The strong impact of coolant temperature upon fragmentation process is addressed. A set of 23 drop fragmentation experiments were performed, in which 8 experiments employed a low melting point alloy, cerrobend-70 and 15 experiments using Pb–Bi eutectic alloy as drop fluid. The results show strong impact of coolant temperature on particle size distribution of the fragmented drops. A linear stability analysis of the interface between the two liquid fluids with thin crust growing between them, is performed. A modified dimensionless Aeroelastic number, for Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, is obtained and used as a criteria for fragmentation of molten drops penetrating into another liquid coolant media with lower temperature. The nondimensionalized mean diameter of the fragmented particles is correlated with the Aeroelastic number.