Molecular dynamics simulation on explosive boiling of thin liquid argon films on cone-shaped Al–Cu-based nanostructures

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of Al and Cu nanostructures on the explosive boiling of a thin layer of liquid argon atoms on the Al and Cu substrates using molecular dynamics method. The results indicate that employing cone-shaped nanostructured surfaces leads to creation of thinner primary liquid layer as compared to the common Al or Cu smooth surfaces. Results show that using a cone-shaped nanostructured surface leads to a higher heat transfer rate and subsequently faster evaporating rate of the liquid layers due to increase in the solid–liquid contact area. In addition, it was found that Cu nanostructure has a more effective role in amplifying the explosive boiling, in comparison with Al nanostructure. The results further show that using the Al and Cu cone-shaped nanostructures on an Al smooth surface can increase the heat transfer by 29% and 38.7%, respectively.