Smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations of evaporation and explosive boiling of liquid drops in microgravity

Smoothed particle hydrodynamics method for evaporating multiphase flows

The smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method has been increasingly used for simulating fluid flows; however, its ability to simulate evaporating flow requires significant improvements. This paper proposes an SPH method for evaporating multiphase flows. The present SPH method can simulate the heat and mass transfers across the liquid-gas interfaces. The conservation equations of mass, momentum, and energy were reformulated based on SPH, then were used to govern the fluid flow and heat transfer in both the liquid and gas phases. The continuity equation of the vapor species was employed to simulate the vapor mass fraction in the gas phase. The vapor mass fraction at the interface was predicted by the Clausius-Clapeyron correlation. An evaporation rate was derived to predict the mass transfer from the liquid phase to the gas phase at the interface. Because of the mass transfer across the liquid-gas interface, the mass of an SPH particle was allowed to change. Alternative particle splitting and merging techniques were developed to avoid large mass difference between SPH particles of the same phase. The proposed method was tested by simulating three problems, including the Stefan problem, evaporation of a static drop, and evaporation of a drop impacting a hot surface. For the Stefan problem, the SPH results of the evaporation rate at the interface agreed well with the analytical solution. For drop evaporation, the SPH result was compared with the result predicted by a level-set method from the literature. In the case of drop impact on a hot surface, the evolution of the shape of the drop, temperature, and vapor mass fraction were predicted.

Atomization characteristics and instabilities in the combustion of multi-component fuel droplets with high volatility differential

We delineate and examine the successive stages of ligament-mediated atomization of burning multi-component fuel droplets. Time-resolved high-speed imaging experiments are performed with fuel blends (butanol/Jet A-1 and ethanol/Jet A-1) comprising wide volatility differential, which undergo distinct modes of secondary atomization. Upon the breakup of vapor bubble, depending on the aspect ratio, ligaments grow and break into well-defined (size) droplets for each mode of atomization. The breakup modes either induce mild/intense oscillations on the droplet or completely disintegrate the droplet (micro-explosion). For the blends with a relatively low volatility difference between the components, only bubble expansion contributes to the micro-explosion. In contrast, for blends with high volatility differential, both bubble growth as well as the instability at the interface contribute towards droplet breakup. The wrinkling pattern at the vapor-liquid interface suggests that a Rayleigh-Taylor type of instability triggered at the interface further expedites the droplet breakup.