Preface

Abstract

The serial publication, Annual Review of Heat Transfer, continues to fulfill its original objective of providing improved communication on new, important developments in the general field of heat transfer. The previous volumes have clearly established the fine tradition that each chapter in the Annual Review deals with a significant, emerging topic by starting from fundamental physical considerations and then proceeding in a logical fashion to the forefront of recent developments and future challenges The contributing authors are either young but upcoming, or well-established leaders in these emerging fields. A list of the topics covered in the past two volumes illustrates well this special characteristic of the Annual Review. Volume 4 presented discussions on chaos, fractal analysis, thermal shock in solids, thermal processing of materials, species-controlled condensation, heterogeneous propellant combustion, mixing of vaporizing droplet sprays, and fouling heat transfer, while Volume 5 considered such topics as supercomputing, thin film laser processing, Monte Carlo Methods, unsteady heat convection across obstruction, thermally induced flow effects, partially saturated permeable surfaces, boiling in porous media, impacting sprays, and mist cooling for air heat exchangers. Following this distinctive character, the present volume contains excellent chapters on significant, but wide-ranging heat transfer topics related to bio-optical imaging, ultrafine structures (aerogels), multiphase modeling of alloy solidification, liquid jet impingement, interface measurements, CVD diamond layers, and molecular and microscale transport phenomena. The editor wishes to express his deep gratitude to the participating authors for their outstanding contributions, to Begell House for providing excellent editorial assistance, and to the heat transfer community for its continuing support and input.