Simulation of condensation and liquid break-up on a micro-object with upper and lower movable walls using Lattice Boltzmann Method

Abstract

In this paper, two-dimensional condensation, liquid behavior on the micro-object with moving walls, and breaking up have been investigated by the Shan and Chen multiphase Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM), which has the ability to incorporate interactions such as fluid–fluid, and also fluid–solid.Four test cases with low, medium, high, and very high Weber numbers are investigated considering the velocity control of walls in detail. Vertical spread fraction n∕h (where n is the minimum liquid thickness after deformation and h is the maximum length of liquid deformation in each time) decreases quickly indicating the liquid tendency to breakup in all cases. Except for the case of a very high Weber number, the separation will not happen and finally after fluctuation the fixed bulk of condensed liquid will be placed on the side of the micro-object. The maximum value of reaction parameter h∕d becomes larger as the Weber number increases. It is shown that an increase in the Weber number leads to liquid breakup and this mechanism provides an effective way for removing the condensed liquid from micro-devices surfaces.The results by LBM reveal the liquid evolutionary behavior and breaking up over time and show that it is a controllable situation by manipulating the walls velocity. Moreover, it can be used in order to centralize and aggregate all the liquid to a specific direction.