Evaporation-driven coalescence of two droplets undergoing freezing

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Kavuri, Sivanandan, Karapetsas, George, Sharma, Chander Shekhar, Sahu, Kirti Chandra
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Kavuri, Sivanandan
Karapetsas, George
Sharma, Chander Shekhar
Sahu, Kirti Chandra
author_facet Kavuri, Sivanandan
Karapetsas, George
Sharma, Chander Shekhar
Sahu, Kirti Chandra
contents We examine the evaporation-induced coalescence of two droplets undergoing freezing by conducting numerical simulations employing the lubrication approximation. When two sessile drops undergo freezing in close vicinity over a substrate, they interact with each other through the gaseous phase and the simultaneous presence of evaporation/condensation. In an unsaturated environment, the evaporation flux over the two volatile sessile drops is asymmetric, with lower evaporation in the region between the two drops. This asymmetry in the evaporation flux generates an asymmetric curvature in each drop, which results in a capillary flow that drives the drops closer to each other, eventually leading to their coalescence. This capillary flow, driven by evaporation, competes with the upward movement of the freezing front, depending on the relative humidity in the surrounding environment. We found that higher relative humidity reduces the evaporative flux, delaying capillary flow and impeding coalescence by restricting contact line motion. For a constant relative humidity, the substrate temperature governs the coalescence phenomenon, and resulting condensation can accelerate this process. Interestingly, lower substrate temperatures are observed to facilitate faster propagation of the freezing front, which, in turn, restricts coalescence.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2408_09827
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Evaporation-driven coalescence of two droplets undergoing freezing
Kavuri, Sivanandan
Karapetsas, George
Sharma, Chander Shekhar
Sahu, Kirti Chandra
Fluid Dynamics
We examine the evaporation-induced coalescence of two droplets undergoing freezing by conducting numerical simulations employing the lubrication approximation. When two sessile drops undergo freezing in close vicinity over a substrate, they interact with each other through the gaseous phase and the simultaneous presence of evaporation/condensation. In an unsaturated environment, the evaporation flux over the two volatile sessile drops is asymmetric, with lower evaporation in the region between the two drops. This asymmetry in the evaporation flux generates an asymmetric curvature in each drop, which results in a capillary flow that drives the drops closer to each other, eventually leading to their coalescence. This capillary flow, driven by evaporation, competes with the upward movement of the freezing front, depending on the relative humidity in the surrounding environment. We found that higher relative humidity reduces the evaporative flux, delaying capillary flow and impeding coalescence by restricting contact line motion. For a constant relative humidity, the substrate temperature governs the coalescence phenomenon, and resulting condensation can accelerate this process. Interestingly, lower substrate temperatures are observed to facilitate faster propagation of the freezing front, which, in turn, restricts coalescence.
title Evaporation-driven coalescence of two droplets undergoing freezing
topic Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.09827