Thermocapillary Forces Research Articles

A comprehensive study of thermocapillary rupture of liquid layer

There is a lack of understanding of the physical mechanisms involved in the rupture of a liquid film on a solid surface. This is in part due to the large number of parameters of the liquid film—substrate system on which this complex process is dependent. Due to the thermocapillary effect, local heating can have a destabilizing effect on the stability of the film. In this work, using a numerical model verified by the experimental data, the influence of parameters not available for variation in the experiment has been studied. It was found that the formation of dry spots in a locally heated liquid film occurs only under the influence of thermocapillary forces. In turn, the expansion of the dry spots takes place under the influence of the capillary forces. Thus, until the dry spot appears, the rupture does not differ on either hydrophilic or superhydrophobic substrates, but the contact line velocity during dry spot growth is extremely sensitive to the contact angle.

Research on the evolution mechanism of surface morphology and solidification crystallization simulation of molten pool in electron beam polishing

Clarifying the flow and solidification process rules of a molten pool in scanning electron beam polishing remains challenging. This paper establishes a geometric model that closely resembles the original milling morphology, investigates the morphology evolution process, the flow law of the molten pool, and the change in driving force under the action of the electron beam, and solves the solidification and crystallization parameters of the solid-liquid interface. Results demonstrate that thermocapillary force is the dominant driving factor for horizontal motion inside the molten pool, which immediately leads to the emergence of velocity conversion sites on the surface of the molten pool, thus effecting surface fluctuation variations. Combined with polishing inspection, the average surface roughness error is controlled within ±7 %. Solid-liquid interface deflection significantly affects grain growth, and solidification and crystallization parameters follow similar patterns at different workpiece speeds. The grain structure of the melt zone can be predicted with the crystallization parameters at various depths of the melt layer.

Study on bulge structure formation mechanisms of laser remelting in air atmosphere

As a key feature of a part or assembly, surface structure can effectively improve the surface properties of the workpiece. Laser remelting is a promising method for surface structure formation, but sensitive to ambient gases. Therefore, this paper presents a numerical model that incorporates the contribution of air atmosphere on surface bulge structure formation. For this, the model couples a concentration field to reflect the oxygen mass transfer in the melt pool and introduces a semi-empirical function to describe the contribution of oxygen to the surface tension. Based on the model, it discusses the surface structure formation mechanisms, the heat-mass transfer characteristics, the melt flow patterns, and the surface force transient evolutions. The results reveal that the action of air atmosphere on melt flow manifests itself through two mechanisms, namely, the enhancement of inward thermocapillary forces and the introduction of outward solutocapillary forces. Furthermore, combined with the laser remelting experiments on 304 stainless steels, the established model is validated concerning the surface bulge structure size, the melt pool depth, and the oxygen distribution.

Scale analysis of undercut and bulge driven by thermocapillary convection due to surface-active solute on a solidified surface

This study scales the shape of the undercut, a depression region near the triple-phase line parallel to the scanning direction, and the bulge in the central region within the fusion zone, considering thermocapillary convection affected by a surface-active solute in the molten pool for the first time. Undercuts, commonly encountered in welding, additive manufacturing, and re-solidification processes, reduce fatigue and fracture strength while enhancing stress concentration. Utilizing the interfacial Young–Laplace equation and Bernoulli equations in the shear layer driven by thermocapillary force influenced by the surface-active solute-affected critical temperature, and introducing the concept of mass conservation, the scale analysis finds that the undercut depth and bulge height increase as Marangoni and Prandtl numbers increase, and the loss coefficient decreases. Furthermore, the widths of the undercut and bulge exhibit increases with dimensionless beam power, fusion zone width, and the ratio of solid-to-liquid thermal conductivity. The COMSOL Multiphase code is also used for simulation and successful comparison, aligning with experimental data from laser polishing. This analysis aids in understanding and controlling microstructures in various processes beyond laser polishing.

Numerical simulation of free-surface evolution in laser polishing of 100 Cr6 bearing steel

Abstract This research focuses on the laser surface polishing process of 100 Cr6, employing a moving Gaussian heat source. It establishes a two-dimensional transient model for laser polishing, taking into account the integrated effects of fluid flow and temperature fields, as well as the combined influence of capillary and thermocapillary forces. The model was used to perform numerical simulations to study the evolution of surface morphology during the laser polishing process. The investigation specifically examines how laser power and scanning speed influence the quality of the polishing outcome. The results demonstrate that an optimal surface roughness of approximately 0.571 μm is attained at a laser power setting of 200 W and a scanning speed of 300 mm/s.

Thermocapillary migration of pendant droplets

The study focuses on the numerical evolution of a droplet, which hangs from a horizontal plane and moves due to thermocapillary effects. It is assumed that the liquid completely wets the substrate, that the surface tension of the liquid decreases linearly with temperature, that the imposed thermal gradient on the substrate is uniform, and that heat transport within the droplet is such that the temperature of its surface replicates that of the substrate. These assumptions, along with the lubrication approximation, allow for obtaining a differential equation that governs the evolution of the droplet. By introducing appropriate scales, this equation has a single dimensionless parameter, which expresses the ratio of gravitational to thermocapillary forces. Numerical solutions show that at sufficiently large volumes or weak thermal gradients, the droplet moves while maintaining a steady, slightly decreasing its volume, and leaving behind a tail whose width is uniform. By contrast, if the droplet is small or the thermal gradient is strong, it advances and stretches in the direction of movement.

Simulating chemical mixing and molten pool shape in dissimilar welds using thermal fluid dynamics

Estimating the properties of dissimilar metal welded joints made using modern high-energy beam techniques presents significant challenges due to the complex nature of the process. These complexities arise from the different thermal and mechanical properties of the materials involved. The properties of a welded joint are primarily determined by the element mixing and final chemical composition when two dissimilar metals are fused together, or when a dissimilar filler material is used. Hence, a representative model capable of tracking elemental distribution and temperature is essential for accurately estimating the micro-scale and macro-scale mechanical properties of the joint, thus optimising the joining process. In this work, a high-fidelity thermal fluid flow model in the multiComponentlaserbeamFoam computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver is used to simulate the process of laser beam welding. For this purpose, the joining process of AISI 304 stainless steel with a low alloy steel filler material (G3Si1) is simulated. This framework is rigorously validated with experimental results showing the capabilities of such modelling approach. Different strategies to model the filler and material properties are explored: a stationary filler model, applied through the parent material's thickness, was found to accurately mirror experimental results. This model is then used to study the flow properties, thermocapillary effect, and diffusion on the intermixing of composition, aspects that have not been previously examined in depth. The thermocapillary forces were concluded to be the most significant, dictating the peak composition value, the shape and topology of the molten pool. Diffusion fluxes were found to be negligible and not responsible for the majority of the mixing.

Numerical investigation of heat transfer enhancement in dielectric fluids through electro-thermo-capillary convection

In this study, a 2D numerical analysis was conducted to investigate electro-thermo-capillary convection in a 2D enclosure filled with a dielectric fluid. The enclosure had a free top surface and was subjected to buoyancy and electrical forces. The study considered a strong unipolar injection of electric charge (C = 10), a mobility number (M = 10), and a Prandtl number (Pr = 10). Calculations were performed for various thermal Rayleigh numbers (Ra) ranging from 5000 to 50,000, Marangoni numbers (Ma) varying from −5000 to 5000 and electric Rayleigh numbers (T) ranging from 100 to 800. The coupled equations governing the electro-thermo-convection problem (Navier-Stokes, energy, charge density transport, and the Maxwell-Gauss equations) were established and solved numerically using the FVM. This study involved mathematical modelling of complex and coupled phenomena, considering viscous, thermal, thermocapillary, and electrical instabilities. The findings showed a significant improvement in heat transfer with higher electrical and thermal Rayleigh numbers. Furthermore, the control of different forces led to an increase in the Nusselt number. Specifically, the application of thermal forces resulted in a 70% increase, while the use of thermocapillary forces led to a remarkable 169% increase. Additionally, electrical forces resulted in an impressive 224% increase. Multi-parameter correlations were established to estimate the Nusselt number as a function of the Marangoni, thermal and electrical Rayleigh numbers.

Melt pool instability in surface polishing by laser remelting: preliminary analysis and online monitoring with K-means clustering

Surface polishing by laser remelting (SP-LRM) is a novel, versatile, high-speed, and low-cost advanced manufacturing technology for producing high-quality surface finishes. The process utilizes a high-power laser that delivers a large amount of instantaneous energy melting a superficial thin layer of material to a molten state. This allows the melt pool to flow driven by thermocapillary and surface tension forces. The target of the process is to melt, reallocate, and resolidify surface peaks into valleys in order to yield a low surface roughness (Sa). SP-LRM, complexity arises from instabilities occurring during laser-material interactions, resulting from non-linear thermodynamics, initial surface topography, overheating, abrupt changes in laser path trajectories involving acceleration and deceleration, and various other factors. These process instabilities significantly affect the attainment of a desired smooth final surface. Presently, the identification of anomalies resulting from a specific set of laser parameters in laser remelting (LRM) is performed offline by assessing the surface topography of LRM using optical profilometer and correlating it with surface non-uniformities that are indicative of process instabilities. This study streamlines the anomaly detection process and identifies the presence of irregularities using an unsupervised clustering machine learning (ML) technique, specifically K-means clustering. During the laser remelting (LRM) process, a high-speed near-infrared (NIR) camera captures relative thermal emission images, which are then classified into a minimum of three clusters using the K-means algorithm. These clusters correspond to positive and negative axial laser beam positions, indicating shifts in the laser spot on the image, and the stability states of laser-material interactions. Preliminary findings show promising results in the employment of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance LRM as a conventional industrial technology for polishing and structuring tooling surfaces.

The effect of molten pool evolution on the formation of surface structures during laser polishing

As a novel surface treatment technology, in-situ laser polishing aims to improve surface finish of 3D printed parts, while laying the foundation for the integrated processing of 3D printing and laser polishing. However, the polishing process will introduce a few new surface structures (undercuts, step structures, ripples, etc.), which will affect the surface roughness. In this work, the surface roughness and surface structure after high power and low power polishing were compared respectively through experiments. In addition, a 2D transient numerical model was developed to explore the forming mechanism of different structures. The evolution of temperature field, velocity field and freedom surface of melting pool under different parameters were analyzed by the model. The results showed that the solidification induced surface structure with large roughness was generated after high power polishing. During its formation, the thermocapillary force was dominant and drove the tangential flow of fluid. While, low power polishing resulted in ripple structure with small roughness. The emergence of this structure was primarily due to the capillary force as the leading force in the melting pool flow process, which drove the normal flow of the melt, thus eliminating the large surface curvature. Furthermore, the width of the melting pool in the simulation was compared with the width of the single scanning track, and they were in good agreement. Finally, by adjusting the test strategy, it was found that the surface roughness could reach the lowest (0.88 ± 0.06 μm) only when the two structures coexisted.

Smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations of the evaporation of suspended liquid droplets

The ordinary evaporation and explosive vaporization of equilibrium, van der Waals, liquid drops subjected to uniform heating at supercritical temperatures are investigated by means of numerical simulations with the aid of a modified version of the DualSPHysics code. The models include the effects of surface tension, thermocapillary forces, mass transfer across the interface, and liquid–vapor interface dynamics by means of a diffuse-interface description. In contrast to previous simulations in this line, a new non-classical source term has been added to the internal energy equation to deal with the vaporization rate through the diffuse interface. This term is related to the diffusion of the latent heat in the interface zone and is, therefore, necessary for a correct physical description of the liquid–vapor interface structure. As the heating temperature increases the drops undergo surface evaporation, nucleation of an interior vapor bubble, nucleation followed by fragmentation of the liquid, and explosive vaporization. Heating at supercritical temperatures brings the drop out of equilibrium and forces it to rapid quenching into either the miscibility gap, where it undergoes surface evaporation by spinodal decomposition, or the metastable region bounded by the binodal and spinodal curves, where it nucleates a vapor bubble. The results also indicate that at comparable heating, drops of lower density experience faster evaporation rates than drops of higher density.

The Mechanism of Droplet Thermocapillary Migration Coupled with Multi-Physical Fields

In this paper, the coupling effect of multiphysical fields of droplet migration is deeply studied by constructing a physical model of droplet migration with multiphysical fields. Digital holographic interferometry and particle image velocimetry are used to simultaneously measure the temperature and velocity fields of the mother liquor in the process of droplet migration for the first time. Due to the advancements of measuring, the zero-velocity region is also in the region where the thermal wake appears, four vortexes appear in the droplet migration and the off-axis behavior of double-droplet migration is found. The aim of this work is to analyze the coupling relationship of multiphysical fields, so as to reveal the physical laws of thermocapillary migration of single droplet and multiple droplets with the same phase and heterophase and to study the driving mechanism of the thermocapillary force and the flow of the mother liquor.

Dynamics of thin self-rewetting liquid films on an inclined heated substrate

In this paper, we investigate the quadratic Marangoni instability along with inertia in a self-rewetting fluid film that has a nonmonotonic variation of surface tension with temperature. The dynamics of such a thin self-rewetting fluid film flowing along an inclined heated substrate is examined by deriving an evolution equation for the film thickness using long-wave theory and asymptotic expansions. By adopting the derived long-wave model that includes the inertial and thermocapillary effects, we perform a linear stability analysis of the flat film solution. Two cases of the nonlinear flow are explored in depth using Tm (temperature corresponding to the minimum of surface tension) as the cutoff point. One is the case of (Ti,s−Tm)<0, and the other is (Ti,s−Tm)>0, where Ti,s is the interface temperature corresponding to the flat film. The Marangoni effect switches to the anomalous Marangoni effect as (Ti,s−Tm) shifts from a negative value to a positive value. Our calculations reveal that the Marangoni effect augments the flat film instability when (Ti,s−Tm)<0, whereas the stability of the flat film is promoted for (Ti,s−Tm)>0. Our further analysis demonstrates that the destabilizing inertial forces can be entirely compensated by the stabilizing anomalous thermocapillary forces. We verify the linear stability predictions of the long-wave Benney-type model with the solution to the Orr–Sommerfeld problem in the long-wave limit. Our time-dependent computations of the long-wave model establish the modulation of interface deformation in the presence of inertia and temperature gradients in the conventional Marangoni regime, whereas such deformations are suppressed in the anomalous Marangoni regime. A comparison of the numerical computations with the linear theory shows good agreement.

Modelling and simulation of surface formation in electrical discharge machining based on thermo-hydraulic coupling

Surface formation in electrical discharge machining (EDM) involves melting, evaporation, re-solidification and crater overlapping. However, almost all existing models concerning surface formation in EDM only consider the thermal process and ignore hydrodynamic phenomena during machining. Herein, a novel three-dimensional thermo-hydraulic coupling model incorporating the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian scheme was developed to address the above problem. The model comprehensively considered the surface deformation caused by melt flow, temperature-dependent material properties, phase changes and the effects of practical forces on melt pools to simulate surface formation on an anodic workpiece at a discharge current of 2 A. Simulation results demonstrate that during single-pulse discharge, molten material flowed radially to the crater periphery. The radial melt flow was driven by evaporation recoil pressure and thermocapillary force. The effect of evaporation recoil pressure on melt flow was gradually counteracted by that of surface tension after discharge ignition, and thermocapillary force became the dominant factor that maintained the existence of bulges around craters. During multiple discharges, the bulges generated by different discharges underwent superposition owing to the flow of molten material and subsequently formed surface peaks. The simulation results also provide the measurements of crater diameter, surface roughness and recast layer thickness, which are consistent with experimental results. The proposed modelling method can provide a useful reference for further investigations on surface integrity in EDM with minimal computing resource requirements.

Numerical and Experimental Analysis of Dual-Beam Laser Polishing Additive Manufacturing Ti6Al4V.

Laser polishing is an emerging efficient technique to remove surface asperity without polluting the environment. However, the insufficient understanding of the mechanism of laser polishing has limited its practical application in industry. In this study, a dual-beam laser polishing experiment was carried out to reduce the roughness of a primary Ti6Al4V sample, and the polishing mechanism was well studied using simulation analysis. The results showed that the surface roughness of the sample was efficiently reduced from an initial 10.96 μm to 1.421 μm using dual-beam laser processing. The simulation analysis regarding the evolution of material surface morphology and the flow behavior of the molten pool during laser the polishing process revealed that the capillary force attributed to surface tension was the main driving force for flattening the large curvature surface of the molten pool at the initial stage, whereas the thermocapillary force influenced from temperature gradient played the key role of eliminating the secondary roughness at the edge of the molten pool during the continuous wave laser polishing process. However, the effect of thermocapillary force can be ignored during the second processing stage in dual-beam laser polishing. The simulation result is well in agreement with the experimental result, indicating the accuracy of the mechanism for the dual-beam laser polishing process. In summary, this work reveals the effect of capillary force and thermocapillary force on molten pool flows during the dual-beam laser polishing processes. Moreover, it is also proved that the dual-beam laser polishing process can further reduce the surface roughness of a sample and obtain a smoother surface.

Energy mechanism for the instability of liquid jets with thermocapillarity

Xu and Davis [J. Fluid Mech. 161, 1–25 (1985)] examined the stability of long axisymmetric liquid jet subjected to an axial temperature gradient, finding capillary, surface-wave, and hydrodynamic modes. They showed that capillary breakup can be retarded or even suppressed for a small Prandtl number (Pr < 1) and a large Biot number (Bi ≥ 1). In the present work, the energy mechanism is carried out for these three kinds of flow instabilities, and the mechanism of suppressing capillary breakup is clarified. When the Reynolds number (RB) is not large, the work done by the pressure on the free surface (PS) is the main energy source of the capillary instability. At small Pr and large Bi, the phase difference between the radial velocity and surface deformation increases with RB, leading to the decrease in PS, which prevents the occurrence of capillary breakup. Meanwhile, the work done by thermocapillary force becomes the main energy source, making hydrodynamic modes unstable. The perturbation flow fields are displayed, which shows that the temperature fluctuations of three modes differ from each other.

Textured surfaces for oil droplet transport

Droplet-based microfluidic systems bring the advantage of handling samples in discrete forms and these systems can be built as a surface-based platform, eliminating the need of a carrier fluid. Droplet transport on surfaces can be achieved by creating local energy gradients by using electrowetting, thermocapillary forces, chemical gradients and surface texture. These methods are developed for aqueous droplets; while controlled transportation of oil droplets remains as a challenge due to their low surface tension. One of the major challenges in achieving controlled oil droplet manipulation is to obtain oil repellent -oleophobic- surfaces. In this work, pillar arrays with mushroom shaped profiles were designed, fabricated, and tested to study oil wetting on textured surfaces. Contact angles higher than 170° were achieved for hexadecane droplets in Fakir state. Based on these findings, surface texture ratchet tracks that are composed of an array of arc shaped pillars were built to generate local energy gradients to manipulate oil droplets in a continuous fashion. Motion of hexadecane droplets at a speed of 7 mm/s was achieved. The results of this study are crucial for applications of oil droplet transport such as in biochemistry, smart surface development, wearable device design as well as microsystem packaging.

Numerical simulation and experimental analysis on nanosecond laser ablation of titanium alloy

Nanosecond lasers are widely used in the ablation of metal materials, and the exploration of the ablation mechanism has never stopped. In this study, a three-dimensional finite element model of heat transfer and flow coupling was established with Ti6Al4V alloy as the research object. The model simulated the heat transfer in the ablation process by setting heat conduction, convection, and radiation flux. The surface tension, recoil pressure, gravity, buoyancy, and thermocapillary force were used as driving forces to induce fluid flow in the molten pool. The results show that different scanning paths lead to different degrees of heat accumulation in the model. However, due to the large duty cycle used in the simulation, the model has enough cooling time. The effect of heat accumulation is limited. Among the reasons for inducing liquid flow in the molten pool, thermal capillary flow dominates. The maximum flow velocity appears at the edge of the molten pool, and the flow velocity gradually decreases from the surface to the inside. To study the interaction between laser parameters and groove size, the experimental parameters were designed by response surface methodology. The results show that the influence of scanning times, scanning speed, and repetition frequency on groove depth gradually decreases. The interaction between scanning speed and scanning times has an obvious effect on the groove width.

Effects of Thermocapillary and Natural Convection During the Melting of PCMs with a Liquid Bridge Geometry

The results of a numerical investigation of the melting of a PCM occupying an axisymmetric volume in the presence of gravity are presented. The PCM is held between two circular supports maintained at different temperatures. The melting process, which is analyzed for n-octadecane, is affected by a combination of thermocapillary and natural convection. If the PCM is heated from above, the convective motion driven by the thermocapillary force is opposed by the buoyant force, which reduces the heat transfer rate. If the PCM is heated from below, natural convection acts in the same sense as thermocapillary convection and the heat transfer rate is increased. The volume mathcal {V} of the PCM relative to an ideal cylinder, which selects the shape of the PCM/air interface, is found to play an important role. The overall effect of natural convection on heat transfer is characterized by the ratio of the melting time in microgravity to that of the same system with gravity. This gain factor is greater (less) than unity when heating from below (above) and depends strongly on mathcal {V}, particularly for smaller PCM volumes.

Numerical study of melt hydrodynamics in pulsed laser processing of nickel-based superalloy

Pulsed laser processing (PLP) of materials has wide-spread applications in the industry, yet the underlying complex material response to the incident laser pulse especially the melt flow mechanism is not fully understood. Knowledge of melt hydrodynamics can provide systematic theoretical guidance for the improvement of PLP quality. In this paper, a two-dimensional numerical model was built to simulate melt flow during PLP of nickel-based superalloy. The driving forces for melt hydrodynamics at different stages of laser pulse irradiation were studied comprehensively. Numerical results reveal that thermo-capillary stress drives radially-outward melt flow at the initial stage of laser pulse irradiation. At the middle stage, evaporation-induced recoil pressure is the dominant driving force for melt pool deformation, creating a depression at the center and a hump at the periphery. Thermo-capillary force has a minor effect on melt pool deformation but a large contribution to the flow velocity field. At the post-irradiation stage, the peripheral molten hump flows back rapidly and the melt pool experiences some gradually damping oscillations under the action of Young-Laplace stress. Moreover, it was demonstrated that laser power density plays an important role in deciding the melt flow characteristics and the relative contributions of different driving forces. The results in this study provide an unambiguous physical picture of the melt hydrodynamics in pulsed laser processing.