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Phase change under reduced environmental pressures is key to understanding liquid discharge and propulsion processes for aerospace applications. A representative case is the sessile water droplets exposed to high vacuum, which experience complex phase change and transport phenomena that behave so differently than that under the atmosphere. Here, we demonstrate a previously unexplored aspect of the mechanism governing icing droplet self-launching from superhydrophobic surfaces when exposed to low pressures (~100 Pa). In contrast to the previously reported recalescence-induced local overpressure underneath the droplet that propels icing droplet self-jumping, we show that the progressive recalescence over the free surface plays a significant role in droplet icing and jumping. The joint contribution of the top-down vaporization momentum and bottom-up local overpressure momentum leads to vaporization-compression-detaching dynamics of the freezing droplets. We delineate the jumping velocity of the icing droplet by analyzing droplet vaporization mediated by freezing and substrate structuring, and reveal jumping direction coupled with the spatially probabilistic ice nucleation. Our study provides new insights into phase change of supercooled droplets at extreme conditions seen in aerospace and vacuum industries., Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures

Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) is a crucial problem in ocean engineering. The smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method has been employed recently for FSI problems in light of its Lagrangian nature and its advantage in handling multi-physics problems. The efficiency of SPH can be greatly improved with the Adaptive Particle Refinement (APR) method, which refines particles in the regions of interest while deploying coarse particles in the left areas. In this study, the APR method is further improved by developing several new algorithms. Firstly, a new particle refinement strategy with the refinement scale ratio of 4 is employed for multi-level resolutions, and this dramatically decreases the computational costs compared to the standard APR method. Secondly, the regularized transition sub-zone is deployed to render an isotropic particle distribution, which makes the solutions between the refinement zone and the non-refinement zone smoother and consequently results in a more accurate prediction. Thirdly, for complex FSI problems with free surface, a new free-surface detection method based on the Voronoi diagram is proposed, and the performance is validated in comparison to the conventional method. The improved APR method is then applied to a set of challenging FSI cases. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the results from the refinement with scale ratio 4 are consistent with other studies and experimental data, and also agree well with those employing the refinement scale ratio 2. A significant reduction in the computational time is observed for all the considered cases. Overall, the improved APR method with a large refinement scale ratio and the new free-surface detection strategy shows great potential in simulating complex FSI problems efficiently and accurately., Comment: 47 pages, 26 figures, accepted to be published by Journal of Computational Physics

The multi-resolution method, e.g., the Adaptive Particle Refinement (APR) method, has been developed to increase the local particle resolution and therefore the solution quality within a pre-defined refinement zone instead of using a globally uniform resolution for Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH). However, sometimes, the targeted zone of interest can be varying, and the corresponding topology is very complex, thus the conventional APR method is not able to track these characteristics adaptively. In this study, a novel Block-based Adaptive Particle Refinement (BAPR) method is developed, which is able to provide the necessary local refinement flexibly for any targeted characteristic, and track it adaptively. In BAPR, the so-called activation status of the block array defines the refinement regions, where the transition and activated zones are determined accordingly. A regularization method for the generated particles in the newly activated blocks is developed to render an isotropic distribution of these new particles. The proposed method has been deployed for simulating Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) problems. A set of 2D FSI cases have been simulated with the proposed BAPR method, and the performance of the BAPR method is quantified and validated comprehensively. In a word, the BAPR method is viable and potential for complex multi-resolution FSI simulations by tracking any targeted characteristic of interest., Comment: 41 pages, 26 figures, Accepted by Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering

While dragonflies are highly agile flyers, some key aerodynamic mechanisms responsible for their flight performance remain inadequately understood. Based on forward flight conditions, we investigate dragonfliess spanwise aerodynamic behaviors associated with flapping wings phasing relationship. Overall, the leading edge vortex (LEV) on the forewing forms without the influence of the hindwing. For hindwing, the wing root region prominently displays a trailing edge vortex (TEV). In the inner span region, the vortical flow structures around the hindwing is influenced by the forewings LEV when both wings are in close proximity and move in opposite directions. In the mid-span region, downwash following the forewing suppresses LEV formation on the hindwing. Finally the outer span region of the hindwing develops its LEV by wake capture at the end of a stroke cycle. In the inner region, the timing of shedding on both fore- and hind-wings is synchronized, which is not the case elsewhere. These varied flow structures suggest that the fore- and hind-wings, along their spanwise directions, play different roles in force generation., Comment: supplementary materials not included here

The role of surface tension and wettability in the dynamics of air-liquid interfaces during immiscible fluid displacement flows in capillary tube driven by pressure has been investigated. The contact angle and capillary number drive the force wetting processes which is controlled by the balance between the capillary and the viscous lubrication forces. The dynamic wetting condition with the critical capillary number is studied analytically and validated experimentally, which demonstrates that the critical capillary number is associated with the contact angle, slip length and capillary radius., Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures

We demonstrate that smooth and flat surfaces combining hydrophilic and hydrophobic patterns improve pool boiling performance. Compared to a hydrophilic surface with 7 degree wetting angle, the measured critical heat flux and heat transfer coefficients of the enhanced surfaces are up to respectively 65 and 100% higher. Different networks combining hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions are characterized. While all tested networks enhance the heat transfer coefficient, large enhancements of critical heat flux are typically found for hydrophilic networks featuring hydrophobic islands. Hydrophilic networks indeed are shown to prevent the formation of an insulating vapor layer., Comment: accepted August 10 in Applied Physics letters