Numerical analysis of natural convection with conjugate heat transfer in coarse-grained porous media

We report numerical simulations of fluid natural convection with conjugate heat transfer in a bottom-heated, top-cooled cubical cavity packed with relatively large (d/L=0.2) solid spheres in a Body Centred Tetragonal (BCT) configuration. We study largely varying solid-to-fluid thermal conductivity ratios between 0.3 and 198, for a fluid...

Breakup of elongated droplets in microfluidic T-junctions

We show experimentally, and explain theoretically, what velocity is needed to break an elongated droplet entering a microfluidic T-junction. Our experiments on short droplets confirm previous experimental and theoretical work that shows that the critical velocity for breakup scales with the inverse of the length of the droplet raised to the...

Thermal fluctuations in capillary thinning of thin liquid films

Thermal fluctuations have been shown to influence the thinning dynamics of planar thin liquid films, bringing predicted rupture times closer to experiments. Most liquid films in nature and industry are, however, non-planar. Thinning of such films not just results from the interplay between stabilizing surface tension forces and destabilizing...

Modeling and simulation of diffusion-convection-reaction in heterogeneous nanochannels using OpenFOAM

We present a finite volume implementation of a phase field method in OpenFOAM as a tool to simulate reactive multiphase flows on heterogeneous surfaces. Using this tool, we simulate the formation and growth of a droplet due to a chemical reaction on a hydrophilic catalytic patch surrounded by a hydrophobic wall. We compare the growth dynamics...

Dynamics of an oscillating turbulent jet in a confined cavity

We demonstrate how the self-sustained oscillation of a confined jet in a thin cavity can be quantitatively described by a zero-dimensional model of the delay differential equation type with two a priori predicted model constants. This model describes the three phases in self-sustained oscillations: (i) pressure driven growth of the oscillation, ...

Flow instabilities and reversals in non-uniformly thermocapillary driven melt pool

With transient LES and DNS simulations, we investigate flow in melt pools driven by thermocapillary forces. The developing pool is at first axisymmetric as are the boundary conditions, but flow instabilities arise that lead to 3D oscillatory flow patterns. At higher laser powers a sign-change in the surface tension temperature coefficient occurs...

Droplets on Inclined Plates: Local and Global Hysteresis of Pinned Capillary Surfaces

Local contact line pinning prevents droplets from rearranging to minimal global energy, and models for droplets without pinning cannot predict their shape. We show that experiments are much better described by a theory, developed herein, that does account for the constrained contact line motion, using as an example droplets on tilted plates. We...

Effects of electromagnetic forcing on self-sustained jet oscillations

The influence of electromagnetic forcing on self-sustained oscillations of a jet issuing from a submerged nozzle into a thin vertical cavity (width W much larger than thickness T) has been studied using particle image velocimetry. A permanent Lorentz force is produced by applying an electrical current across the width of the cavity in...

Forced convection mass deposition and heat transfer onto a cylinder sheathed by protective garments

In chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear protective clothing, a layer of activated carbon material in between two textile layers provides protection against hazardous gases. A cylinder in cross flow, sheathed by such material, is generally used to experimentally test the garment properties. This is, however, complicated and predictive...

Dynamics of droplet breakup in a T-junction

The breakup of droplets due to creeping motion in a confined microchannel geometry is studied using three-dimensional numerical simulations. Analogously to unconfined droplets, there exist two distinct breakup phases: (i) a quasi-steady droplet deformation driven by the externally applied flow; and (ii) a surface-tension-driven three-dimensional...

Reaction-diffusion analysis for one-step plasma etching and bonding of microfluidic devices

A self-similar reaction front develops in reactive ion etching when the ions penetrate channels of shallow height h. This relates to the patterning of microchannels using a single-step etching and bonding, as described by Rhee et al. [Lab Chip 5, 102 (2005)] . Experimentally, we report that the front location scales as xf ? ht1/2 and the width...

Defect Properties and Photoelectrochemical Performance of BiVO4 Photoanodes

Dynamics of droplet formation at T-shaped nozzles with elastic feed lines

We describe the formation of water in oil droplets, which are commonly used in lab-on-a-chip systems for sample generation and dosing, at microfluidic Tshaped nozzles from elastic feed lines. A narrow nozzle forms a barrier for a liquid–liquid interface, such that pressure can build up behind the nozzle up to a critical pressure. Above this...