Abstract

Experimental and numerical investigations of water microdroplet evaporation on heated, laser patterned polymer substrates are reported. The study is focused on both (1) validating numerical models with experimental data, (2) identifying how changes in the contact line infuences evaporative heat transfer and (3) determining methods of controlling contact line dynamics during evaporation. Droplets are formed using a bottom-up methodology, where a computer-controlled syringe pump supplies water to a ~200[micro]m in diameter fluid channel within the heated substrate. This methodology facilitates precise control of the droplets growth rate, size, and inlet temperature. In addition to this microchannel supply line, the substrate surfaces are laser patterned with a moat-like trench around the fluid-channel outlet, adding additional control of the droplets contact line motion, area, and contact angle. In comparison to evaporation on non-patterned substrate surfaces, this method increases the contact line pinning time by ~60% of the droplets lifetime. The evaporation rates are compared to the predictions of a commonly reported model based on a solution of the Laplace equation, providing the local evaporation flux along the droplets liquid-vapor interface. The model consistently overpredicts the evaporation rate, which is presumable due to the models constant saturated vapor concentration along the droplets liquid-vapor interface. In result, a modified version of the model is implemented to account for variations in temperature along the liquid-vapor interface. A vapor concentration distribution is then imposed using this temperature distribution, increasing the accuracy of predicting the evaporation rate by ~7:7% and ~9:9% for heated polymer substrates at T[sub]s = 50[degrees]C‰ and 65‰[degrees]C, respectively.

Notes

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Thesis Completion

2014

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Putnam, Shawn A.

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering (B.S.A.E.)

College

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Degree Program

Aerospace Engineering

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Engineering and Computer Science; Engineering and Computer Science -- Dissertations, Academic

Format

PDF

Identifier

CFH0004566

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Document Type

Honors in the Major Thesis

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