Electrified drop formation and dynamics of satellite drops

Patrick Keith Notz, Purdue University

Abstract

The formation and breakup of a liquid drop from a nozzle in air finds application in industrially important processes such as ink-jet printing, surface and bulk property measurement, atomization, gene chip arraying and analytic measurement. Three aspects of this problem form the focus of this thesis. The first regards the study of the dynamics of secondary or satellite drops that form when the main drop pinches-off from the liquid in the nozzle. The second concerns the study of the effects of an externally applied electric field on the drop formation process. The final aspect of the drop formation process addressed in this thesis concerns the dynamics of interface rupture as the breakup singularity is approached asymptotically. In this thesis, highly accurate and robust numerical algorithms based on the Galerkin finite element method (G/FEM) are developed for the prediction of the dynamics of free filaments and drop formation in the absence and presence of an electric field. To support and motivate the computational analysis, experimental observations of satellite drops and the interfacial rupture process are made using ultra-high speed digital imaging. One of the most significant results reported in this thesis is the first ever rigorous theoretical prediction of the Taylor-cone that forms when a liquid drop is exposed to high electric field strengths. A second significant result reported here is the first experimental and computational demonstration of the transition from one scaling law governing interface rupture to another.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Basaran, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Chemical engineering|Mechanics

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