Institute of Fundamental Technological Research

Our aim is to explore, both experimentally and theoretically, the cumulative effects of small particle–liquid density difference, where the particles are used as tracers in recirculating flow. As an example we take a flow field generated in a differentially heated cavity. The main flow structure in such a cavity consists in one or two spiraling motions. Long‐term observations of such structures with the help of tracers (small particles) indicated that accumulation of the particles may set in at some flow regions. For theoretical insight into the phenomenon, a simple analytical model of recirculating (rotating) flow was studied. It was assumed that particles are spherical and rigid, and their presence does not affect the flow field. The particle Reynolds number is negligibly small, hence only the effects of particle–liquid density difference are of importance. Besides buoyancy, the effects of Saffman’s force and the inertial forces are also taken into account when calculating particle trajectories. Both cases were analyzed, particles with density slightly higher and lower than the fluid. It was found that in our case the inertial forces are egligible. In the numerical experiment trajectories of particles were investigated. The particles were allocated at random in the flow field obtained by numerical solution of the natural convection in the differentially heated cavity. In the experimental part, behavior of a dilute particle suspension in the convective cell was explored. In the model‐analytical study of a simple spiraling motion, it was found that due to the interaction of the recirculating convective flow field and the gravity‐buoyancy force, the particles may be trapped in some flow regions, whereas the rest of the flow field becomes particle‐free. This prediction agrees fairly well with the numerical and experimental findings.

Nonlinear viscous droplet oscillations are analysed by solving the Navier-Stokes equation for an incompressible fluid. The method is based on mode expansions with modified solutions of the corresponding linear problem. A system of ordinary differential equations, including all nonlinear and viscous terms, is obtained by an extended application of the variational principle of Gauss to the underlying hydrodynamic equations. Results presented are in a very good agreement with experimental data up to oscillation amplitudes of 80% of the unperturbed droplet radius. Large-amplitude oscillations are also in a good agreement with the predictions of Lundgren & Mansour (boundary integral method) and Basaran (Galerkin-finite element method). The results show that viscosity has a large effect on mode coupling phenomena and that, in contradiction to the linear approach, the resonant mode interactions remain for asymptotically diminishing amplitudes of the fundamental mode.

The problem of transient natural convection in a cube-shaped cavity is investigated experimentally and numerically. The motion is driven by a sudden temperature difference applied to two opposite side walls of the vessel. The experiments are performed at a Rayleigh number of 1.66 × 105 and a Prandtl number of 1109, inside a 5 × 5 × 5 cm3 cavity made of Plexiglas, with two isothermal copper walls kept at a prescribed temperature. Numerical simulation has been performed using a finite difference vorticity-velocity model of the Navier-Stokes equation with the Boussinseq approximation. The theoretical predictions are found to be in good agreement with the experimental results.

The behavior of evaporating small diameter jets in a low‐pressure environment is studied experimentally. Charged coupled device (CCD) cameras connected to a computerized data logging system are employed for high‐speed imaging. Experiments at different jet velocities and environmental pressures have been performed with pure ether and ethanol, and also the mixtures of the two. Complex instability structures during the evaporation of the jet were observed. The recorded experimental evidences of these structures are presented and discussed.

An optical measuring method has been applied to determine the dynamic surface tension of aqueous solutions of heptanol. The method uses the frequency of an oscillating liquid droplet as an indicator of the surface tension of the liquid. Droplets with diameters in the range between 100 and 200 μm are produced by the controlled break-up of a liquid jet. The temporal development of the dynamic surface tension of heptanol-water solutions is interpreted by a diffusion controlled adsorption mechanism, based on the “three-layer” model of Ward and Tordai. Measured values of the surface tension of bi-distilled water, and the pure dynamic and static (asymptotic) surface tensions of the surfactant solutions are in very good agreement with values obtained by classical methods.

Finite-amplitude, axially symmetric oscillations of small (0.2 mm) liquid droplets in a gaseous environment are studied, both experimentally and theoretically. When the amplitude of natural oscillations of the fundamental mode exceeds approximately 10% of the droplet radius, typical nonlinear effects like the dependence of the oscillation frequency on the amplitude, the asymmetry of the oscillation amplitude, and the interaction between modes are observed. As the amplitude decreases due to viscous damping, the oscillation frequency and the amplitude decay factor reach their asymptotical values predicted by linear theory. The initial behaviour of the droplet is described quite satisfactorily by a proposed nonlinear inviscid theoretical model.

The thermal convection in a cubic cavity, with two opposite vertical walls kept at prescribed temperatures, is investigated experimentally. The Rayleigh numbers ranged from 104 to 2 × 107 and the Prandtl numbers from 5.8 to 6 × 103. The velocity and vorticity fields are shown. The temperature fields were visualized with the help of liquid crystals suspended as small tracer particles in the medium. It is observed that convection in the cavity is strongly three-dimensional. The streamlines spiral from the foci on the walls toward the foci in the vertical midplane and vice versa. The disappearance of one of the vortices midway between the center and the front or back wall is observed for RA > 6 × 104. The topological structures are discussed. The experimental observations are compared with numerical calculations found in the literature.

natural convection, rectangular enclosures

The distribution of droplets in a plane Hagen-Poiseuille flow of dilute suspensions has been measured by a special LDA technique. This method assumes a well defined relation between the velocity of the droplets and their lateral position in the channel. The measurements have shown that the droplet distribution is non-uniform and depends on the viscosity ratio between the droplets and the carrier liquid. The results have been compared with a theory by Chan and Leal describing the lateral migration of suspended droplets.