David Brutin

Pattern formation in drying drops of blood

The drying of a drop of human blood exhibits coupled physical mechanisms, such as Marangoni flow, evaporation and wettability. The final stage of a whole blood drop evaporation reveals regular patterns with a good reproducibility for a healthy person. Other experiments on anaemic and hyperlipidaemic people were performed, and different patterns were revealed. The flow motion inside the blood drop is observed and analysed with the use of a digital camera: the influence of the red blood cells motion is revealed at the drop periphery as well as its consequences on the final stage of drying. The mechanisms which lead to the final pattern of the dried blood drops are presented and explained on the basis of fluid mechanics in conjunction with the principles of haematology. The blood drop evaporation process is evidenced to be driven only by Marangoni flow. The same axisymmetric pattern formation is observed, and can be forecast for different blood drop diameters. The evaporation mass flux can be predicted with a good agreement, assuming only the knowledge of the colloids mass concentration.

Experimental study of unsteady convective boiling in heated minichannels

Abstract Convective boiling in narrow channels may under specific conditions display an unsteady behavior. An experimental set-up has been elaborated to investigate heat and mass transfer and to analyze two-phase flow instabilities in rectangular microchannels with a hydraulic diameter of 889 μm. Depending on the operating conditions two types of behavior are observed: a steady state characterized by pressure drop fluctuations with low amplitudes (from 0.5 to 5 kPa/m) and no characteristic frequency; a non-stationary state of two-phase flow. The pressure signals exhibit fluctuations with high amplitudes (from 20 to 100 kPa/m) and frequencies ranging from 3.6 to 6.6 Hz. Steady and unsteady thermo-hydraulic behaviors depending on the two control parameters (heat flux and mass velocity) are analyzed and given in this paper.

A review on boiling heat transfer enhancement with nanofluids

There has been increasing interest of late in nanofluid boiling and its use in heat transfer enhancement. This article covers recent advances in the last decade by researchers in both pool boiling and convective boiling applications, with nanofluids as the working fluid. The available data in the literature is reviewed in terms of enhancements, and degradations in the nucleate boiling heat transfer and critical heat flux. Conflicting data have been presented in the literature on the effect that nanofluids have on the boiling heat-transfer coefficient; however, almost all researchers have noted an enhancement in the critical heat flux during nanofluid boiling. Several researchers have observed nanoparticle deposition at the heater surface, which they have related back to the critical heat flux enhancement.

Triple-line behavior and wettability controlled by nanocoated substrates: influence on sessile drop evaporation.

In this article, we investigate the influence of the surface properties of substrates on the evaporation process. Using various nanocoatings, it is possible to modify the surface properties of substrates, such as the roughness and the surface energy, while maintaining constant thermal properties. Experiments are conducted under atmospheric conditions with five fluids (methanol, ethanol, propanol, toluene and water) and four coatings (PFC, PTFE, SiOC, and SiO(x)). The various combinations of these fluids and coatings allow for a wide range of drop evaporation properties to be studied: the dynamics of the triple line, the volatility of fluids, and a large range of wettabilities (from 17 to 135°). The experimental data are in very good quantitative agreement with existing models of quasi-steady, diffusion-driven evaporation. The experimental results show that the dynamics of the evaporative rate are proportional to the dynamics of the wetting radius. Thus, the models succeed in describing the evaporative dynamics throughout the evaporation process regardless of the behavior of the triple line. Moreover, the use of various liquids reveals the validity of the models regardless of their volatility. The results also confirm the recent finding of a universal relation for the time evolution of the drop mass, independent of the drop size and initial contact angle. Finally, this study highlights the separate and coupled roles of the triple line and the wettability on the sessile drop evaporation process. Data reveal that the more wet and pinned a drop, the shorter the evaporation time.

Experimental evidence of the atmospheric convective transport contribution to sessile droplet evaporation

We investigate the contribution of the natural convective transport in the vapor phase on the evaporation rate of an evaporating sessile droplet. When comparing the experimental data with the quasi-steady diffusion-controlled evaporation model, an increasing deviation with substrate temperature that was attributed to the effect of the natural convection on the vapor field has been recently highlighted. To validate this analysis, we present experimental results obtained with two gravity levels: 1 g and μg. The contribution of the natural convection is analyzed with the Grashof number, and an empirical model is developed combining diffusive and convective transport.

Thermocapillary instabilities in an evaporating drop deposited onto a heated substrate

The present study is an experimental investigation regarding the evaporation of ethanol drops deposited onto a heated substrate in a partial wetting situation. The originality of this work is based on the simultaneous observation of the kinetics of evaporation, heat and mass transfers, the triple-line dynamic, and thermal motions inside the drop. The triple line recedes during the drop evaporation and a spontaneous development of thermal-convective instabilities driven by the evaporation are observed. These instabilities are interpreted as hydrothermal waves induced by surface tension gradient along the free surface. An infrared technique is used to investigate the temporal and spatial dynamics of the hydrothermal waves. Results reveal a non-linear evolution of the number of waves as well as several instability regimes. A complete description of the drop evaporation with the evidence of several phases is provided. The influence of geometrical and thermal parameters has been analyzed and raised scaling law...

Flow Boiling in Minichannels Under Normal, Hyper-, and Microgravity: Local Heat Transfer Analysis Using Inverse Methods

Boiling in microchannels is a very efficient mode of heat transfer since high heat and mass transfer coefficients are achieved. Here, the objective is to provide basic knowledge on the systems of biphasic cooling in mini- and microchannels during hyper- and microgravity. The experimental activities are performed in the frame of the MAP Boiling project founded by ESA. Analysis using inverse methods allows us to estimate local flow boiling heat transfers in the minichannels. To observe the influence of gravity level on the fluid flow and to take data measurements, an experimental setup is designed with two identical channels: one for the visualization and the other one for the data acquisition. These two devices enable us to study the influence of gravity on the temperature and pressure measurements. The two minichannels are modeled as a rectangular rod made up of three materials: a layer of polycarbonate (λ =0.2 W m -1 K -1 ) used as an insulator, a cement rod (λ=0.83 W m -1 K -1 ) instrumented with 21 K-type thermocouples, and in the middle a layer of Inconel® (λ=10.8 W m -1 K -1 ) in which the minichannel is engraved. Pressure and temperature measurements are carried out simultaneously at various levels of the minichannel. Above the channel, we have a set of temperature and pressure gauges and inside the cement rods, five heating wires provide a power of 11 W. The K-type thermocouple sensors enable us to acquire the temperature in various locations (x, y, and z) of the device. With these temperatures and the knowledge of the boundary conditions, we are able to solve the problem using inverse methods and obtain local heat fluxes and local surface temperatures on several locations. The experiments are conducted with HFE-7100 as this fluid has a low boiling temperature at the cabin pressure on Board A300. We applied for each experiment a constant heat flux (Qw =33 kW m -2 ) for the PF52 campaigns (Parabolic Flights). The mass flow rate varies in the range of 1

How Surface Functional Groups Influence Fracturation in Nanofluid Droplet Dry-Outs

In this study of drying water-based nanofluid droplets, we report the influence of surface functional groups and substrate surface energies on crack formation and dry-out shape. These two key parameters are investigated by allowing nanofluids with several functional groups grafted on polystyrene nanoparticle surfaces to dry on various substrates. These experiments result in a variety of regular crack patterns with identical nanoparticle diameter, material, concentration, and drying conditions. We demonstrate that, despite the various patterns observed, the crack spacing/deposit height ratio is constant for similar substrate surface energies and linearly increases with this parameter. Moreover, this study shows that the crack shape is strongly influenced by surface functional groups as a result of particle interactions (depending on the particle surface potentials) and compaction during solvent evaporation.

Destabilization Mechanisms and Scaling Laws of Convective Boiling in a Minichannel

Convective flow boiling in a minichannel is presently analyzed. A 889-m hydraulic diameter minichannel is used for the experiments conducted at several heat fluxes provided to the minichannel for variable inlet mass flow rates. A local analysis of the two-phase flow behavior through pressure and temperature measurements is detailed in the paper. Based on the flow boiling behavior, a destabilization mechanism is proposed on the vapor plug formation assumption. A theoretical criterion of the two-phase flow destabilization is proposed using a simplified model. The approach is compared with the experimental results. A scaling law is found with a nondimensional analysis of the experimental results.

Drop impingement on a deep liquid surface: study of a crater's sinking dynamics

When there is a drop impact on a liquid surface, two phenomena can appear depending on the impact Weber number: either vortex generation or jet formation; in this paper the second behavior is dealt with. Based on the comparison of experimental and theoretical results, the dynamic of splashing drops on deep liquid surfaces is analyzed; this work focuses on the crater’s evolution and its maximum. The liquids used are water and ethyl-alcohol. Drop impacts are made with various impact velocities by creating drops from several heights above the liquid surface. A straightforward model to describe and predict the crater’s sinking evolution is proposed and agrees well with the experimental results over a range of Weber numbers from 50 to 1500.