Modeling of Coalescence and Separation of Liquid Droplets During Solidification of Immiscible Alloys

Directional solidification methods are being used f or in-situ production of metallic immiscible composites. A quantitative understa nding of the dynamic behavior and growth kinetics of the nucleated second phase during solidification is necessary to produce homogeneous dispersion in solidifi ed composites. This paper presents a mathematical model for describing the grow th of nucleated dispersed phase in the two-liquid phase region ahead of the sol idification front and the entrapment of these droplets by the moving solid-liqu id interface in vertical unidirectional solidification systems. The model has t wo components. A macro-heat transfer model for describing the temperature prof iles and the rate of advance of the solidification front. The dynamic behavior and coalescence and growth of nucleated droplets in the two-liquid phase region under the influence of effective gravity and thermocapillary forces were repres ented through the solution the droplet momentum and mass conservation equations in particle space. These two components of the models were coupled through a sp ecial algorithm for tracking the particle location and size with respect to movi ng solidification front in the solidification time scale. The model is used to study the particle size distribution in unidirectional solidified Zn-Bi hypermo notectic alloys at reduced gravity conditions. It has been found that the parti cle size and distribution in the solidified alloy depends on solidification rate and the ratio of effective gravity to thermocapillary forces. It was also foun d that uniform dispersion could only be obtained in a very narrow range of effec tive gravity values near zero gravity. The model predictions were compared agai nst experimental measurements obtained at different effective gravity conditions in a novel unidirectional solidification apparatus that uses electromagnetic fo rces to modulate gravitational forces. The model was found to reasonably predic t the experimentally measured particle size and distribution over the entire ran ge of effective gravity investigated as well as gravity conditions for settling and flotation of the second phase during solidification. The practical signific ance of these findings will be discussed.

Axisymmetric wetting of a liquid droplet on a stretched elastic membrane

Wetting of a liquid droplet on another liquid substrate is governed by the well-known Neumann equations.The present work aims to develop an explicit modified version of the Neumann equations for axisymmetric wetting of a liquid droplet on a highly stretched elastic membrane of non-zero bending rigidity.An explicit modified form of the Neumann equations is derived to determine the two contact angles,which is reduced to Young's equation for a liquid droplet on a rigid membrane or to the Neumann equations for a liquid droplet on another liquid substrate.Further implications of the modified Neumann equations are examined by comparison with some previous results reported in the recent literature,particularly considering the ranges of material and geometrical parameters of the liquid droplet-membrane system which have not been recently addressed in the literature.

BREAK-UP MECHANISM OF METAL DROPLETS GENERATED BY AN ELECTROHYDRODYNAMIC TECHNIQUE

Nanometer powders can be produced by an electrohydrodynamic technique. The breakup mechanism of the metal droplets generated by the electrohydrodynamic technique was analysed. It showed that the applied voltage, the electric field Btrength, the properties of the molten metal and the volumetric flow rate of the molten metal directly effect the breat-up extent of the metal droplets.

Pre-concentration and determination of amitriptyline residues in waste water by ionic liquid based immersed droplet microextraction and HPLC

This paper describes a new approach for the determination of amitriptyline in wastewater by ionic liquid based immersed droplet microextraction （IL-IDME） prior to highperformance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. 1-Hexyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate （[C6MIM][PF6]） was used as an ionic liquid. Various factors that affect extraction, such as volume of ionic liquid, stirring rate, extraction time, pH of the aqueous solution and salting effect, were optimized. The optimal conditions were as follows： microextraction time, 10 min; stirring rate, 720 rpm; pH, 11; ionic drop volume, 100 uL; and no sodium chloride addition. In quantitative experiments the method showed linearity in a range from 0.01 to 10 ug/mL, a limit of detection of 0.004 ug/mL and an excellent pre-concentration factor （PF） of 1100. Finally, the method was successfully applied to the determination of amitriptyline in the hospital wastewater samples.

Study on Nonlinear Coupling Wave Model for Liquid Droplet-Solid Impact

In order to investigate the material corrosion by liquid droplet solid impact, a nonlinear coupling wave model adopted to analyze the impact between the spherical liquid droplet and an elastic solid plane has been developed. Many usable results such as the dimensionless pressure in the contact plane of liquid solid and inside the liquid droplet, the equivalent stress distribution inside the solid, the effect of solid elasticity on the impact, and the locations of the maximum equivalent stress in different...

Millimeter-Scale Liquid Droplet Migration on Solid Surface with Temperature Gradient: A Simulation Investigation

In this paper, we established a time-dependent model that investigates the migration behavior of a millimeter-scale liquid droplet on a solid surface with temperature gradient. Both fluid mechanics and heat transfer are incorporated in the model. The Navier-Stokes equation is employed both inside and outside the droplet. Size variation is observed in the transient simulation. Results show that the velocity of the migration is about 1.7 mm/s under a temperature gradient of 30 K/mm. The model is consistent with results with previous literatures.

Microstructure evolution of hot pressed AZ91D alloy chips reheated to semi-solid state

AZ91D magnesium alloy chips, which were directly collected on the spot of machining process, were recycled to prepare billet via hot pressing for semi-solid processing. The semi-solid microstructure evolution of the billet during reheating was investigated. The results indicate that there are three stages during reheating to semi-solid state: the dissolution of Mg17Al12 and diffusion of Al into α-Mg matrix, the melting of the region with high content of solute and formation of isolated solid particles, and spheroidization and growth of solid particles. Meanwhile, a number of entrapped liquid droplets form within solid particles. In addition, the number and size of entrapped liquid droplets rely on the holding time in the semi-solid temperature range. With increasing isothermal holding time, the solid fraction remains unchanged when the solid-liquid system reaches the dynamic equilibrium at last, while the solid particles become more globular and the average size of solid particles increases owing to the decreasing of interfacial energy and the effect of interfacial tension.

Unraveling the morphological evolution mechanism of solid sulfur species in lithium-sulfur batteries with operando light microscopy

Solid-liquid phase conversion between various sulfur species in lithium-sulfur(Li-S)batteries is a fundamental reaction of the sulfur cathode.Disclosing the morphological evolution of solid sulfur species upon cycling is of great significance to achieving high energy densities.However,an in-depth investigation of the internal reaction is still lacking.In this work,the evolution process of solid sulfur species on carbon substrates is systematically studied by using an operando light microscope combined with in situ electrochemical impedance spectra technology.The observation of phenomena such as bulk solid sulfur species can form and dissolve independently of the conductive substrates and the transformation of supercooled liquid sulfur to crystalline sulfur.Based on the phenomena mentioned above,a possible mechanism was proposed in which the dissolution reaction of solid sulfur species is a spatially free reaction that involves isotropic physical dissolution,diffusion of molecules,and finally the electrochemical reaction.Correspondingly,the formation of solid sulfur species tends to be a form of crystallization in a saturated solution rather than electrodeposition,as is commonly believed.Our findings offer new insights into the reaction of sulfur cathodes and provide new opportunities to design advanced sulfur cathodes for Li-S batteries.

Analysis of Material Loss Behavior According to Long-Term Experiments on LDIE-FAC Multiple Degradation of Carbon Steel Materials

Recently, damage caused by liquid droplet impingement erosion (LDIE) in addition to flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC) has frequently occurred in the secondary side steam piping of nuclear power plants, and the damage-occurring frequency is expected to increase as their operating years’ increase. In order to scrutinize its causes, therefore, an experimental study was conducted to understand how the behavior of LDIE-FAC multiple degradation changes when the piping of nuclear power plants is operated for a long time. Experimental results show that more magnetite was formed on the surface of the carbon steel specimen than on the low-alloy steel specimen, and that the rate of magnetite formation and extinction reached equilibrium due to the complex action of liquid droplet impingement erosion and flow-accelerated corrosion after a certain period of time. Furthermore, it was confirmed at the beginning of the experiment that A106 Gr.B specimen has more mass loss than A335 P22 specimen. After a certain period of time, however, the mass loss tends to be the opposite. This is presumed to have resulted from the magnetite formed on the surface playing a role in suppressing liquid droplet impingement erosion. In addition, it was confirmed that the amount of erosion linearly increases under the conditions in which the formation and extinction of magnetite reach equilibrium.

Hard-magnetic liquid metal droplets with excellent magnetic field dependent mobility and elasticity

Magnetic liquid metal droplets(MLMDs)have been proven to be very important in many fields such as flexible electronics and soft robotics.Usually,soft magnetic particles such as nickel(Ni)and iron(Fe)are mixed or suspended into the liquid metal to obtain soft MLMDs(S-LMDs),which can be easily manipulated under the magnetic field due to the favorable deformability and flexibility.In addition,hard magnetic particles such as neodymium iron boron(Nd Fe B)with a high residual magnetization can also be dispersed into the liquid metal and the hard MLMDs(H-LMDs)become more compact due to the interaction between internal particles induced by remanence.This work reports a kind of H-LMDs with high surface tension,high flexibility and mechanical robustness,whose electrical conductivity and strength are better than the S-LMDs.Under the magnetic field,the H-LMDs have a faster response time(0.58 s)and a larger actuating velocity(4.45 cm/s)than the S-LMDs.Moreover,the H-LMDs show excellent magnetic controllability,good elasticity and favorable mobility,as demonstrated by magnetically actuated locomotion,bounce tests and rolling angle measurements.Finally,the droplets can be further applied in wheeldriven motors and micro-valve switches,which demonstrates their high application potential in robotic manipulation and microfluidic devices.

TRACKING METHODS FOR FREE SURFACE AND SIMULATION OF A LIQUID DROPLET IMPACTING ON A SOLID SURFACE BASED ON SPH

With some popular tracking methods for free surface, simulations of several typical examples are carried out under various flow field conditions. The results show that the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics （SPH） method is very suitable in simulating the flow problems with a free surface. A viscous liquid droplet with an initial velocity impacting on a solid surface is simulated based on the SPH method, and the surface tension is considered by searching the free surface particles, the initial impact effect is considered by using the artificial viscosity method, boundary virtual particles and image virtual particles are introduced to deal with the boundary problem, and the boundary defect can be identified quite well. The comparisons of simulated results and experimental photographs show that the SPH method can not only exactly simulate the spreading process and the rebound process of a liquid droplet impacting on a solid surface but also accurately track the free surface particles, simulate the free-surface flow and determine the shape of the free surface due to its particle nature.

Simulation of two-phase plume field of liquid thruster

When the liquid propellant thruster works,its plume field would contain many propellant liquid droplets,especially at pulse state.Liquid droplets may move along with the gas flow and deposit on the components of spacecraft as contamination.The simulation of the plume field involving the gas molecules and liquid droplets is an important part in contamination studies of thruster plume.Based on the PWS software developed by Beihang University(BUAA),axial-symmetric two-phase direct simulation Monte Carlo(DSMC) method is used with the liquid droplet taken as a kind of solid particle.The computation of gas-to-particle effect and gas reflection on the particle surface are decoupled.The inter-particle collision is also considered.The gas parameters at nozzle exit of 120N engine after 20 ms pulse work are taken as the entrance condition of the numerical simulation.Four test cases are conducted for comparison of different collision modules.Simulation results show that the effects of liquid propellant droplets mainly concentrate near the axis line of engine.The particle-to-gas collision would cause evident differences in the gas field and subtle differences in the particle phase.The liquid droplets in the plume field are generally accelerated and convected by the gas molecules.The DSMC method is proved to be a feasible solver to numerically simulate the two-phase flow involving solid phase and rarefied gas flow.

A Review on Thermal Design of Liquid Droplet Radiator System

Liquid Droplet Radiator (LDR) system is regarded as a quite promising waste heat rejection system for aerospace engineering.A comprehensive review on the state-of-the-art of LDR system was carried out.The thermal design considerations of crucial components such as working fluid,droplet generator and collector,intermediate heat exchanger,circulating pump and return pipe were reviewed.The state-of-the-art of existing mathematical models of radiation and evaporation characteristics of droplet layer from literatures were summarized.Furthermore,thermal designs of three LDR systems were completed.The weight and required planform area between the rectangular and triangular LDR systems were respectively compared and the evaporation models for calculating the mass loss were evaluated.Based on the review,some prospective studies of LDR system were put forward in this paper.

RNA 5-methylcytosine regulates YBX2-dependent liquid-liquid phase separation

5-Methylcytosine(m^(5)C)is one of the most prevalent internal modifications of messenger RNA(mRNA)in higher eukaryotes.Here we report that Y box protein 2(YBX2)serves as a novel mammalian m^(5)C binding protein to undergo liquid-liquid phase separation(LLPS)both in vivo and in vitro,and this YBX2-dependent LLPS is enhanced by m^(5)C marked RNA.Furthermore,the crystal structure assay revealed that W100,as a distinct m^(5)C binding site of YBX2,is critical in mediating YBX2 phase separation.Our study resolved the relationship between RNA m^(5)C and phase separation,providing a clue for a new regulatory layer of epigenetics.

Phase separation in plants:New insights into cellular compartmentalization

A fundamental challenge for cells is how to coordinate various biochemical reactions in space and time. To achieve spatiotemporal control, cells have developed organelles that are surrounded by lipid bilayer membranes. Further, membraneless compartmentalization, a process induced by dynamic physical association of biomolecules through phase transition offers another efficient mechanism for intracellular organization. While our understanding of phase separation was predominantly dependent on yeast and animal models, recent findings have provided compelling evidence for emerging roles of phase separation in plants. In this review, we first provide an overview of the current knowledge of phase separation, including its definition, biophysical principles, molecular features and regulatory mechanisms. Then we summarize plant-specific phase separation phenomena and describe their functions in plant biological processes in great detail. Moreover, we propose that phase separation is an evolutionarily conserved and efficient mechanism for cellular compartmentalization which allows for distinct metabolic processes and signaling pathways, and is especially beneficial for the sessile lifestyle of plants to quickly and efficiently respond to the changing environment.