Plateau Rayleigh Instability Simulation

The well-known phenomena of Plateau–Rayleigh instability has been simulated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The breakup of a liquid film into an array of droplets on a cylindrical element was simulated using a volume-of-fluid (VOF) solver and compared to experimental observations and exist...

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Main Authors: Mead-Hunter, Ryan, King, Andrew, Mullins, Benjamin
Format: Journal Article
Published: American Chemical Society 2012
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/47197
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author Mead-Hunter, Ryan
King, Andrew
Mullins, Benjamin
author_facet Mead-Hunter, Ryan
King, Andrew
Mullins, Benjamin
author_sort Mead-Hunter, Ryan
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The well-known phenomena of Plateau–Rayleigh instability has been simulated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The breakup of a liquid film into an array of droplets on a cylindrical element was simulated using a volume-of-fluid (VOF) solver and compared to experimental observations and existing theory. It is demonstrated that the VOF method can correctly predict the breakup of thins films into an array of either axisymmetric droplets or clam-shell droplets, depending on the surface energy. The existence of unrealistically large films is precluded. Droplet spacing was found to show reasonable agreement with theory. Droplet motion and displacement under fluid flow was also examined and compared to that in previous studies. It was found that the presence of air flow around the droplet does not influence the stable film thickness; however, it reduces the time required for droplet formation. Novel relationships for droplet displacement were derived from the results.
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publishDate 2012
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-471972017-09-13T16:00:27Z Plateau Rayleigh Instability Simulation Mead-Hunter, Ryan King, Andrew Mullins, Benjamin The well-known phenomena of Plateau–Rayleigh instability has been simulated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The breakup of a liquid film into an array of droplets on a cylindrical element was simulated using a volume-of-fluid (VOF) solver and compared to experimental observations and existing theory. It is demonstrated that the VOF method can correctly predict the breakup of thins films into an array of either axisymmetric droplets or clam-shell droplets, depending on the surface energy. The existence of unrealistically large films is precluded. Droplet spacing was found to show reasonable agreement with theory. Droplet motion and displacement under fluid flow was also examined and compared to that in previous studies. It was found that the presence of air flow around the droplet does not influence the stable film thickness; however, it reduces the time required for droplet formation. Novel relationships for droplet displacement were derived from the results. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/47197 10.1021/la300622h American Chemical Society restricted
spellingShingle Mead-Hunter, Ryan
King, Andrew
Mullins, Benjamin
Plateau Rayleigh Instability Simulation
title Plateau Rayleigh Instability Simulation
title_full Plateau Rayleigh Instability Simulation
title_fullStr Plateau Rayleigh Instability Simulation
title_full_unstemmed Plateau Rayleigh Instability Simulation
title_short Plateau Rayleigh Instability Simulation
title_sort plateau rayleigh instability simulation
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/47197