Electric charges are often found in naturally or artificially formed droplets, such as raindrops and those generated by Kelvin's water dropper. In contrast to the impact of neutral droplets on a flat solid surface upon which a thin convex lens shape layer of the gas film is typically formed, I show that the delicate gas thin film can be fundamentally altered for even weakly charged droplets both experimentally and numerically. As the charge level is raised above a critical level of about 1% of the Rayleigh limit for representative impact conditions, the Maxwell stress overcomes the gas pressure buildup to deform the droplet bottom surface. A conical liquid tip forms and pierces Through the gas film, leading to a circular contact line moving outwards that does not trap any gas. The critical charge level only depends on the capillary number based on the gas viscosity. The deformation applies to common liquids and molten alloy droplets. Even dielectric surfaces can also induce conical deformation. The charged droplets can also deform upon hydrophobic surfaces, and increase the contact time on hydrophobic surfaces or even avoid bouncing. / Doctor of Philosophy / Electric charges are often found in naturally or artificially formed droplets, such as raindrops, waterfall, and inkjet printer. Neutral droplets impact on flat surfaces will usually trap a bubble inside because of the viscosity of air. The air bubble entrapped can be ignored if the droplet is water because the air bubble will eventually pinch-off. However, if the droplet is metal or some other viscous liquid, the air bubble will stay inside the liquid. This entrapped air bubble is undesired under some circumstances. For example, the existence of air bubble during metal 3D printing can influence the physical property. I show that the delicate gas thin film can be fundamentally altered for even weakly charged droplets both experimentally and numerically. As the charge level is raised above a critical level of about 1% of the maximum charges a droplet can carry for representative impact conditions, the electric stress will dominate the deformation of droplet. A conical liquid tip forms at the droplet bottom, avoiding the entrapment of air bubble. The critical charge level is experimentally proved to be only dependent on the gas viscosity and impact velocity. The deformation applies to common liquids and molten alloy droplets. Even dielectric surfaces can also induce conical deformation. The charged droplets can also deform upon hydrophobic surfaces, and increase the contact time on hydrophobic surfaces or even avoid bouncing.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/92888 |
| Date | 07 August 2019 |
| Creators | Gao, Fan |
| Contributors | Mechanical Engineering, Qiao, Rui, Deng, Weiwei, Chen, Cheng, Paul, Mark R., Tafti, Danesh K. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf, application/x-zip-compressed |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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