DEVELOPMENT OF CONFOCAL IMAGING TECHNIQUES FOR PROBING INTERFACIAL DYNAMICS IN MICROSCALE, GAS-LIQUID, TWO-PHASE FLOW

DEVELOPMENT OF CONFOCAL IMAGING TECHNIQUES FOR PROBING INTERFACIAL DYNAMICS IN MICROSCALE, GAS-LIQUID, TWO-PHASE FLOW Joseph E. Hernandez Michigan Technological University, 2014 Advisor: Dr. Jeffrey S. Allen Micro-scale, two-phase flow is found in a variety of devices such as Lab-on-a-chip, bio-chips, micro-heat exchangers, and fuel cells. Knowledge of the fluid behavior near the dynamic gas-liquid interface is required for developing accurate predictive models. Light is distorted near a curved gas-liquid interface preventing accurate measurement of interfacial shape and internal liquid velocities. This research focused on the development of experimental methods designed to isolate and probe dynamic liquid films and measure velocity fields near a moving gas-liquid interface. A highspeed, reflectance, swept-field confocal (RSFC) imaging system was developed for imaging near curved surfaces. Experimental studies of dynamic gas-liquid interface of micro-scale, two-phase flow were conducted in three phases. Dynamic liquid film thicknesses of segmented, two